


Beautiful

by Wheres_my_badger



Series: Little Adventures [3]
Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: (but not often), Daniel being overall cute, I have those in mind, I'll see how it goes, I'm not sure about the couples yet, I'm still testing things out, JUST, Little!Daniel, M/M, More tags in the future, Non-Sexual Age Play, Pacifiers, Teddy Bears, a bit of angst, a lot of fluff, a second, and a bit insecure, and his members taking care of him, and i think that's it, bottles, comfort blankets, other members may be little in the future!, similar to my story about little Kihyun, some of them are arseholes for like, still haven't decided who, then they come around
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-03-08 18:47:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 43,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13464336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wheres_my_badger/pseuds/Wheres_my_badger
Summary: "He couldn’t be like that. He just couldn’t. It wasn’t normal. He wanted to become a singer, to debut in a group. He had to practice all day everyday to get to where he wanted. How would he do that if he was too busy playing with rattles and toy cars? He couldn’t. He wouldn’t."OrDaniel struggles to accept that he is a little, but his friends are there to help him through it.





	1. Denial

**Author's Note:**

> When will I learn to tittle? Probably never.
> 
> So, if you've read my Monsta X story (Baby Boy), you have a pretty good idea of what this one will be like. Actually, I'll probably do a crossover between them (thanks for the great idea, liz29128 <3), sometime in the future, but I'm still thinking about that.
> 
> (Here's the link to that story https://archiveofourown.org/works/12591884/chapters/28680392)
> 
> Anywyas, I hope you guys like it! I'm always open to suggestions and criticism, so feel free to comment whatever you want and tell me if you want anything to happen in the story ^.^
> 
> Love you guys!

Daniel was around thirteen the first time he noticed that there might be something wrong with him. He remembered walking into drugstores and supermarkets with his mom and blushing when they passed the baby section, avoiding looking at those items, and he remembered feeling confused as to why he was so embarrassed to just pass by that aisle.

It made no sense to him. Whenever they were near the baby section, he felt his eyes drawn to all that; the pacifiers, the diapers, the sippy cups, everything grabbed his attention. But he never looked much, soon blushing and looking away, embarrassed about staring at it without knowing why. In the back of his mind, a little voice always whispered to him that yes, he knew why he stared so much. Daniel ignored it.

Daniel was sixteen when he first decided to try and figure out what was wrong with him. He remembered opening a private navigation tab on his computer, late at night, and typing out some of the things he felt - he had buried the memory of typing 'why do I want to buy everything in the baby section of the market' very deep in his mind. He remembered not finding anything useful at first, and then finding something with the tittle 'types of littles', and then he remembered the uneasy feeling on his stomach when the words on the forum felt familiar to him. He remembered reading article after article, forum after forum, each one of them making him more and more panicked, but being unable to tear his eyes from the descriptions.

He remembered finally closing the tab and turning off his computer after a long time, then lying awake at night, mind running wild, trying to wrap itself around the things he’d just read. Trying to come to terms with the fact that he’d identified himself with some - many - of those explanations, with the fact that the word ‘little’ and it’s description had so, so much appeal to him. He remembered closing his eyes tightly. ‘I’m not like that. It’s late, and I’m confused. I’m not like that’ was what he told himself, until he fell asleep.

After that night, he locked all of that away. He couldn’t be like that. He just couldn’t. It wasn’t normal. He wanted to become a singer, to debut in a group. He had to practice all day everyday to get to where he wanted. How would he do that if he was too busy playing with rattles and toy cars? He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. He would eventually have to share a dorm with other people. How would he explain that to them?

So when he woke up again, he promised himself he’d never look into that again. And he kept his promise. He passed by the baby section on stores with his eyes fixed on the floor, he refused to look at the TV if there were cartoons playing. He ignored the way his heart beat faster and his cheeks reddened when someone told him he was being childish and he didn’t let people take care of him.

Sometimes he slipped. He remembered once passing a toy store and simply stopping, staring at all of those toys until his friends noticed he’d stopped and called him, joking about him wanting something from the store. He’d forced himself to laugh, then said something like ‘yeah, sure, I’m dying for one of those plastic dinosaurs’ in the most sarcastic voice he could. He’d ignored the weight on his heart as he walked away from the store.

But despite some incidents, his resolve lasted a long time. He spent a lot of time at his company, training and training and training, and he didn’t have that much time to think about anything that wasn't dancing or rapping. He sometimes felt the stress of it all getting to him, and a passing thought about wanting to curl up with some sort of stuffed animal crossed his mind, but then he just forced himself harder until there were no more thoughts of anything in his mind.

And then he was chosen to participate on Produce 101.

 

If asked about his experience with Produce, Daniel would probably spend an hour thinking and then double the time explaining what he felt. That is, if the person really wanted an honest answer. Usually, though, he just had to say it was an awesome experience, a great opportunity to learn from his sunbaes and meet new people and friends.

The truth was a bit more complicated. It involved all of the nights he'd curled up on his bed, crying silently to himself and wanting to give up. It involved all of the times when he doubted himself, when he told himself he should just have pursued a normal career, like his parents wanted him too. All of the times he'd refused other people's help, because he didn't want to bother them with his problems.

Produce was the epitome of bittersweet. He’d learned a lot and he’d grown a lot. He’d made friends. But he’d had to leave people behind, he’d had to watch, completely powerless, as people he’d grown to like so much left and he stayed. He had to sit on that chair, the so desired first place on his hands, when all he wanted was to go over and hug the people who didn’t make it, even though they deserved it so much.

The best point about Produce, though, was that it kept Daniel busy, and his mind away from those thoughts that had haunted him for such a long time. He should have known, though. He should have known that it would end eventually, and wether he made it in or not, his mind wouldn’t know what to do with the free time it would be given. And that, along with the stress of debuting and making a career, was the perfect opportunity for those thoughts he’d always fought so hard to take over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This first chapter is short, cause it's just a prologue, kind of. A bit of background explanation. What did you guys think?


	2. For The First Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://wonhoownsmyass.tumblr.com/post/170134367373/for-those-who-read-my-story-beautiful-here-are
> 
> These are the plushies, if anyone wants to picture it!

Daniel was stressed. Not that that was surprising; ever since the end of Produce, the eleven chosen boys had been running around, doing interviews, strengthening their fanbase, preparing for their debut and filming, and everything all at once. It was a lot, and very sudden, and honestly, all of them were stressed. The problem was… stress had a different effect on Daniel then it had on the other boys.

Of course, all of them were different. On his bad days, Minhyun cleaned the dorm compulsively. Woojin snapped at everyone that got too close and Jihoon closed off and didn’t talk to anyone. All of them coped differently, and it was ok, because they had already learned each other’s quirks, and knew – mostly – how to deal when one of them was clearly stressed to the maximum.

The problem, for Daniel, was that his reaction to stress was to want to be taken care of or to want things used to soothe children. It wasn’t unusual for him to feel too tired to eat or shower and want someone to feed him and bathe him, or for him to want a teddy bear to hug when he went to bed. Once he even caught himself wanting to suck on his thumb to soothe himself and help himself fall asleep.

And this was embarrassing. He couldn’t do any of that, the others would never let him live it down, and he would never let himself live it down. So he was left with no way to deal with his stress, and he was quickly running towards a breaking point. Because he’d spent his whole life suffocating those weird desires, and now they were surfacing more and more often, no matter how hard he fought them, and honestly, he was beginning to panic.

He knew that he had to do something to stop that. He could feel everything he’d kept hidden and buried for so long starting to stir and he knew sooner or later it would all come spilling out if he didn’t find another solution, but… but the only solution he could think of was to give into the things he wanted and he. Just. Couldn’t.

 

What finally tipped Daniel over the edge for the first time was so, so simple and so ridiculous, that he would probably want to bang his head against a wall when he remembered it. Of course, in reality it was just a series of events accumulated, plus the fact that he’d been so stressed for so long with no way of de-stressing. But the actual breaking point…

They were at the company, and the day had been tiring. They had been woken up early to film some sort of commercial, and Daniel had known the day would be bad when his first urge at being woken up was to stomp his feet and pout about not wanting to get up. It had happened before, but it had never been so hard to control himself. He didn’t do it, of course. Instead, he forced a smile at Jisung and got up, slowly starting his day and trying to keep his head in the right place.

They had shot the commercial, and that had been the second problem. The company wanted sweet and cute pictures, and Daniel had barely gotten over his almost tantrum and he was being dressed in pastel colours and told to hold a soft teddy bear for his photos. It took twice as long to shoot his part than to shoot the others’, because he kept getting distracted by the teddy bear’s soft fur.

By the end of it, he was mentally exhausted from holding himself back when all he wanted was to bury his face on the bear’s fur and take a nap just for a little while. Sungwoon teased him, saying that sometimes he acted younger than the maknaes, and Daniel had just shrugged and walked away, before he gave into the urge of screaming at Sungwoon. Or at the world in general.

After the shoot, they were taken to eat, and Daniel wanted to bang his head against the table, because of course the others had to choose the table right by the restaurants playground, of course they had. He was midway through shoving his food into his mouth, trying to ignore the kids running and laughing nearby, already past the point of caring if his face was dirty or not, when a hand rested on his thigh. He looked up to see Minhyun looking at him, worried.

“Are you ok, Niel?”

Daniel gulped. He wanted this so much. His heart was screaming for him to just give in and let Minhyun take care of him. He wanted to whine that no, he wasn’t ok, and to ask Minhyun to feed him and then let him have a nap, but just the idea already made his cheeks burn with a blush. So he just nodded.

“I’m fine, hyung.”

And continued to eat. He didn’t see the worried glance that passed between Minhyun, Jisung and Seongwoo. He just wanted this day to be over.

After eating, they were taken to the practice room. Practice was hard. It always was, but for some reason that day it was worse than ever, and Daniel was starting to get more and more frustrated. He knew he was being rude and snapping at the others, but he couldn’t stop himself. He was tired and stressed, and he just wanted his bed and a teddy bear to snuggle with.

“Ok, this is not working.” Daniel sighed as Jisung spoke up, knowing they had stopped because of him again. He was ready to apologize, but Jisung surprised him. “Niel, why don’t you stay a bit more with Minhyun and Seongwoo? They can help you a bit, since you look like you’re struggling.”

To anyone else, Jisung sounded worried and sweet. To Daniel, at the moment, the suggestion came across as an offense. He crossed his arms.

“I’m not struggling.”

The honorific was dropped and Daniel knew he sounded like a petulant child, but he really didn’t care. Jisung raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t mean anything bad by that, Niel. It’s just that you’re having a bit of difficulty with the moves, and…”

“Minhyun isn’t even a dancer, what do I need him for?”

In the back of Daniel’s head, alarms were going off. He knew he should stop it, otherwise things he didn’t want the others to know would end up coming to light.

“Niel…”

Started Minhyun, but the boy shook his head.

“Whatever. I’ll stay.”

And saying that he headed to his bag to get water and calm down for a bit. Jisung, Minhyun and Seongwoo exchanged a glance and the two younger boys nodded, understanding the leader’s silent request to help Daniel get over whatever was bothering him. The boy had been acting weird for a while now, and they all wanted their smiley and sweet Daniel back.

Slowly, everyone left the practice room, until it was only Daniel, Minhyun and Seongwoo. The youngest moved to the centre of the room, ready to practice, but the other two didn’t start the music.

“Niel. Is there something that…?”

Daniel didn’t let Seongwoo finish.

“I stayed back to practice, not to talk, hyung.”

The other two exchanged a glance, but there was nothing they could do. They turned on the music and started practicing.

 

It was getting increasingly hard for Daniel to concentrate. His body wasn’t listening to his mind, and he was feeling slightly dizzy. Plus, he could feel a headache coming. The others had left an hour ago, and instead of getting better, Daniel seemed to be forgetting the steps he was supposed to dance.

Minhyun and Seongwoo were worriedly watching the boy, trying to get him to slow down, but Daniel seemed bent on not leaving any space for conversation. It was hell. Both boys could see something was more than wrong with Daniel, and they wanted to help, but the boy wasn’t letting them, and there was nothing they could do. It was frustrating.

And then… and then Daniel tripped and fell. Immediately, Minhyun stopped the music and him and Seongwoo rushed to the boy. The fall hadn’t been bad. It would probably leave a little bruise on the boy’s knees, but nothing too bad. Still, they were worried.

But then Daniel sat up and his lip began to tremble and then he began to cry his heart out. Minhyun and Seongwoo stopped on their tracks, startled with the sudden reaction. They looked at each other, at a complete loss of what to do. Daniel was sitting in the middle of the practice room, crying his eyes out, and they had no idea what to do or how to console the boy.

After a second, though, Minhyun’s instinct kicked on and he rushed to the boy, kneeling next to him.

“Hey, hey, it’s ok, Niel. It’s ok, look. It’s all better already.”

While he talked, he carefully put his hand on Daniel’s knee. The boy’s cries died down a bit as Minhyun rubbed his back gently, and he looked at the older. Minhyun’s heart broke at the teary eyes staring at him, and the fact that Daniel was also pouting made it even worse.

“T-tiss i’ be’er?”

Minhyun took a good three seconds to understand and process the request, but when Daniel’s lower lip started to tremble again, he quickly replaced his hand with his mouth, giving the boy a soft kiss on his knee. Daniel sniffed, but giggled a little. And Minhyun smiled, glad that the crisis seemed to have been solved.

“Does it feel better?”

He asked, softly. Something told him he should be careful and soft with Daniel for the moment being. The boy shyly nodded.

“Fank you…”

Minhyun felt a movement by his side and turned, only to see that Seongwoo was standing by them.

“I think we should stop for today, guys. We don’t anyone getting hurt.”

Minhyun nodded and stood up. Then he offered a hand to Daniel, but the younger simply looked at it, before looking up at the older and tilting his head.

“What’s the problem, Niel?”

Asked Minhyun. And then, to his surprise, Daniel raised his arms. Minhyun stared, then turned to Seongwoo.

“I think… he wants you to pick him up?”

Seongwoo sounded as confused as Minhyun felt.

“But why…?”

There was a small whine and both boys turned their attention back to Daniel, who was pouting again.

“Minmin…”

He whined, and Minhyun was still completely confused, but how could he refuse anything when Daniel was looking at him with those puppy eyes? He bent down and let Daniel wrap his arms around his neck, then, with a whole lot of effort, stood up. The boy immediately wrapped his legs around Minhyun’s middle and laid his head on the older’s shoulder. And ten seconds later he was out like a light.

Seongwoo and Minhyun were silent for a second, both still trying to wrap their minds around this sudden turn of events.

“What the hell was that?”

Minhyun finally asked. Seongwoo shrugged.

“Beats me. He was acting like a toddler.”

They began making their way to the door, Seongwoo typing a message for their manager to pick them up while Minhyun struggled to carry Daniel.

“Well, yeah, I noticed that much.” He readjusted the boy on his arms and Daniel nuzzled against his neck. “But why?”

Seongwoo sighed.

“I really don’t know. We’ll have to ask him when he wakes up.”

Minhyun had a feeling they wouldn’t be asking Daniel anything for a while, but he said nothing.

When they reached the door, the car was waiting for them. Carefully, Minhyun started to put Daniel down. He was almost done disentangling the boy from himself when Seongwoo made a weird strangled noise.

Minhyun finished putting Daniel on the car and turned to the other boy.

“What’s it?”

Seongwoo was smiling wildly.

“He looks adorable!”

It came out like a squeal. Minhyun frowned and turned back to Daniel. Then he let out a squeal of his own. Because Daniel was asleep on the car, sucking on his thumb, seeming more relaxed than they’d seen him in days.

“Aigo, this big baby. He’s too adorable for his own good.”

Seongwoo giggled.

“Ah, I want to pinch his cheeks.”

He said. Minhyun laughed.

“Control yourself. He’s probably dead tired, we should let him sleep. Besides, I still want to know what is going on here.”

And saying that he closed the van’s door and went to his own seat.

 

When they arrived at the dorm, Daniel was still sleeping soundly. Minhyun sighed, but before he could pick the boy up, Seongwoo stopped him.

“I’ll carry him, don’t worry.”

Minhyun smiled gratefully and let Seongwoo take his place. As soon as he was moved, Daniel whined and took his thumb from his mouth. He then wrapped his arms around Seongwoo’s neck and put his thumb back on his mouth, sucking on it contentedly. Minhyun laughed fondly and the three boys made their way to the dorm.

Seongwoo stopped at the door and looked at Minhyun. He was biting on his lip, a frown on his face, and Minhyun understood the problem. They couldn’t just walk in and leave Daniel anywhere like that. It would already be embarrassing enough for the boy to find out that two of his friends had seen him sucking on his thumb. If everyone knew, Daniel would probably freak out.

“We should take him to your room. Then only Jisung hyung will know. And Jisung hyung is… well, Jisung hyung.”

Seongwoo laughed and nodded, opening the door. They quickly took off their own shoes, then Minhyun helped Seongwoo take off Daniel’s shoes, and then they entered the dorm in a rush, only half greeting the others before locking themselves away on Seongwoo’s room. They stopped to catch their breaths, and then Seongwoo spotted Jisung, sitting on his bed and staring at them with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh… h-hey, hyung.”

Tried Minhyun, but Jisung was fixed on Daniel’s image.

“Is he… sucking on his thumb?”

He asked, a bit incredulous. Minhyun and Seongwoo looked at Daniel, then at each other. Minhyun shrugged.

“You know what, I’ll leave you two to it. The kids will find it weird if I stay here for too long. I’ll keep them out, call me when he wakes up.”

And saying that, Minhyun left. Seongwoo gaped. That traitor. And then it was just Seongwoo, Jisung and a sleeping Daniel.

Seongwoo sighed, then moved to lay Daniel on his bed. The boy was starting to get heavy on his arms and he didn’t want to drop him. Daniel whined at being put down, but soon his free hand grabbed his blanket, pulling it closer to his face and he sighed and went on sleeping peacefully. And then Seongwoo turned to face Jisung.

“Uhn, can I know what’s going on?”

The oldest asked. Seongwoo sighed.

“We don’t know, really. I know you told us to stay back to talk to him, but he didn’t let us. He insisted on practicing, and cut us off every time we spoke. And then he tripped and fell and hurt his knee and he just… he started crying really hard, and when we tried to comfort him, he acted like a toddler.”

Jisung was frowning.

“Well, Niel is always a bit childish, but…”

Seongwoo shook his head.

“That’s not what I mean. He really… he asked Minhyun to kiss his knee for it to get better. Then he didn’t get up, he raised his arms for us to carry him, and called Minhyun ‘Minmin’. He was talking with a bunch of speech problems, too. I don’t know what’s going on, but there’s something weird in this story.”

Jisung frowned. And then something pulled on the back of his mind and he raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to wait for him to wake up.”

He said, although he had a pretty good guess about what was going on.

 

Daniel woke up feeling warm. There were other feelings there too, but those were too complicated and the most prominent one was warmth, so that’s what he focused on. He stretched, careful not to dislodge his thumb from his mouth, and turned to lie on his side. Then he opened his eyes and noticed there were two faces staring down at him.

At first he was startled at the fact that he wasn’t alone. Then a part of his mind started blaring alarm signs and Daniel sat up, a bit panicked, taking his thumb from his mouth. He felt tears welling up in his eyes as Jisung and Seongwoo stared at him. He vaguely remembered falling on the practice room and hurting his knee, then crying and asking for Minhyun to carry him, and then falling asleep. The memories were foggy and a bit scrambled up, but the main feeling remained: fear

“Niel…”

Seongwoo started, but the soft voice was what pushed Daniel off the edge once again. The tears started falling from his eyes and he pulled his knees up, hiding his face in them.

“I sowy. I-I mean sorry, I’m sorry, I…” his adult headspace was fighting against his little headspace, both trying to take control, but in the end, he wasn’t strong enough. “Don’ ha’e Niel.”

Seongwoo was staring, completely confused, but Jisung knew what was going on. Quickly, he kneeled in front of Daniel’s bed.

“Hey, Niel, it’s ok. We don’t hate you, we could never.” The boy was still crying and hiding his face. Jisung put a hand on top of the boy’s own hand. “Can you look at hyung? I promise it’s ok, love.”

Slowly, Daniel looked up. He was still crying, but now it was just silent tears.

“N-no ha’e Niel. Pwease”

Jisung dried Daniel’s cheeks gently.

“We don’t hate you, love. Hyung promises.”

Daniel sniffed, slowly stopping his crying.

“Pinty pwomise?”

Jisung smiled as Daniel extended his hand, offering his pinky.

“Yes, love, pinky promise.”

Once he was satisfied, Daniel looked up. Jisung followed his gaze and found Seongwoo staring at them, seeming absolutely confused. He wanted to laugh at the expression on the boy’s face, but he knew this was a very delicate situation.

“Seongwoo doesn’t hate you either, Niel.”

He looked at the younger significantly and Seongwoo seemed to snap out of a daze. He slowly kneeled by Jisung, seemingly afraid that any sudden moves would startle Daniel.

“Jisung hyung is right, Niel. We could never hate you. Ok?”

Daniel sniffed again, but nodded.

“So, did you have a good nap?”

Asked Jisung. He couldn’t explain things to Seongwoo at the moment, so he’d have to show the boy how to deal with the situation. Daniel scrunched his nose.

“Was wonwy.”

Seongwoo looked confused, but Jisung cooed.

“Were you lonely, love? What do you say we get you a friend so you don’t get lonely?”

Seongwoo snorted.

“How did you understand that?” He asked. Daniel whimpered and Jisung glared. Seongwoo looked down, apologetic. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, Niel.”

Jisung rolled his eyes.

“He’s being silly, Niel. I can understand you perfectly well, ok? Now c’mon, we don’t want our precious Niel to be lonely anymore.”

And saying that the oldest stood up and extended a hand, which Daniel took.

It was late, and everyone else was sleeping. Jisung and Seongwoo had decided to take turns, in case Daniel woke up, and wake each other up if that was the case. Due to this, the dorm was silent and there was no one to see Daniel being pulled by the hand, his thumb back on his mouth as he followed Jisung. Seongwoo left to call Minhyun – he was the one who asked, after all – and Jisung took Daniel to where they put some of the gifts the fans gave them.

“Close your eyes for a second, love.” Daniel obeyed and closed his eyes. Jisung smiled and let go of the boy’s hand, reassuring Daniel that he was right there when the boy whimpered. He opened the closet and took out some stuffed animals. He put them on the floor, in front of Daniel. “Ok, you can open your eyes now.”

Daniel once again obeyed, and then his mouth made a perfect ‘O’ shape, his thumb falling from it. He looked from the plushies to Jisung.

“Fow Niel?”

Jisung laughed and nodded.

“You can choose two, baby.”

Daniel squealed and immediately sat down, picking up the plushies and examining them, turning all of his attention to the task.

The boy was still choosing when Seongwoo entered the room, a sleepy Minhyun following him.

“Ok, I brought Minhyun. Now can you tell us what’s going on, hyung? Cause I’m confused, and you clearly know something we don’t.”

Jisung looked at Daniel, who seemed to have forgotten about choosing and was playing with the plushies, making them talk to each other in different voices. He looked back at the other two. He sighed, before beginning his explanation.

Once Jisung was done, the other two seemed more confused than they’d been before.

“So, like… it’s about sex?”

Asked Seongwoo. Jisung shook his head.

“Not always. Some people use it as foreplay, yes, but for some people it’s like a life style, almost. They use ageplay to de-stress and relax. It helps them forget their worries and problems for a while and just enjoy simple things. I think this is Niel’s case.”

At that, all of them glanced at the boy. Daniel had organized all of the plushies in a circle, and was making the rabbit plushie dance, while explaining the dance moves to the other stuffed animals. It was an adorable sight.

“I mean… he really is childish. It’s not that weird to discover that sometimes he acts like a kid to de-stress.”

Seongwoo nodded, agreeing with Minhyun. Jisung laughed.

“That’s because being little is part of him. Many people seem to think it’s something you can turn on and off whenever you want, but it’s actually something that you’ll always be. Even when in adult headspace, those characteristics show.”

Seongwoo and Minhyun nodded.

“How do you know all of this, hyung?”

Asked the youngest of the trio. Jisung shrugged.

“A friend of mine is a little. When he told me I looked it up, so that I could understand it better. I’ve always thought Niel acted a lot like a little, but he never said anything, so I couldn’t just assume. When you entered carrying Niel and told me about his behaviour, I knew I’d gotten it right.”

Minhyun nodded in understanding and Seongwoo turned to Daniel. Only to find the boy already looking at him. He raised an eyebrow and Daniel blushed, looking back at his plushies. Seongwoo laughed.

“He looks adorable.”

He commented, making the other two look at the boy too. Daniel was once again absorbed on his play.

“He does. But it’s late, already. We should put him to bed.”

Seongwoo and Jisung laughed at Minhyun’s mother instinct showing.

“Let’s get him on some more comfortable clothes, then we can put him to bed.” Agreed Jisung. Then he turned to Daniel. “Niel, baby. It’s late and you need to sleep, so you have a lot of energy to play tomorrow. You can keep two plushies if you come with hyung.”

Daniel looked up, pouting.

“No sweepy.”

He claimed, crossing his arms.

“We need to go to bed, baby. If we stay up, we won’t have energy to play tomorrow. How can you teach the plushies to dance if you’re too tired to dance?”

At that, Daniel seemed horrified. He looked at the plushies in front of him, biting on his lip, then picked up the fox and the puppy. He got up, hugging the two toys close to his chest. Jisung smiled and extended a hand. Daniel looked at his arms for a second, before holding the fox’s and the puppy’s paws on one of his hands and taking the hand Jisung was offering.

“T’mowow we pway?”

He asked. Jisung nodded.

“Sure, baby. Now let’s get some more comfortable clothes and we can go to bed, ok?”

Daniel nodded and let himself be guided. Seongwoo was quick to follow the duo, smirking at Minhyun, who glared before he began putting the rest of the plushies on their due place.

 

A while later, Daniel was dressed on the Spiderman pyjamas he already owned, lying on his bed hugging his toy puppy close to his chest. His thumb was on his mouth and his fox plushie was on his pillow. Jisung smiled as he covered the boy and kissed his forehead.

“Sleep tight, baby. Hyung will leave the light on for you, ok?”

Daniel nodded, already half asleep. Seongwoo went next, pressing a kiss to the tip of Daniel’s nose and getting a sleepy giggle from the boy.

“Sleep well, Niel.”

He said, simply, to which Niel nodded too.

All of them settled on their beds and one by one they closed their eyes, until there was no one awake. The next day would probably involve a lot of explaining and talking, but for now they could just sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think??
> 
> Also: any one wants to suggest names for Daniel's stuffed animals? And would you prefer if he was a brat or well-behaved when in little space?


	3. A Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure about this chapter, but the introductory chapters are always harder. Hope you guys like it!

Daniel woke up feeling more rested than he’d felt in quite a long time. He felt comfortable and warm, and there was something soft on his hands, and he sighed contentedly. Unfortunately, the calm and happiness didn’t last long. When he sighed, the air from his nose hit his hand and Daniel’s eyes snapped open. It took him a few more seconds to process everything and take his thumb from his mouth and sit up.

His breath was quick and he looked at the plushie in his hands as if it had murdered his family. He lifted the toy up and shoved it to the other end of the bed, along with the fox, before noticing he was in his Spiderman pyjamas and groaning.

There were tears forming on his eyes, tears of frustration, and fear, and sadness, because he’d been so comfortable when he woke up, and now he was completely stressed again, and his friends probably hated him and thought he was a freak. And the worst was that he’d enjoyed the previous night so much, when it was so wrong.

Trying to keep himself together, he got up, trying to be silent, and started making his way to the door. He was almost there when Seongwoo’s voice made him freeze.

“Niel?” Daniel stopped on his tracks and gulped, slowly turning around. Seongwoo was sitting on his bed, hair sticking to every direction and eyes mostly closed, still. “Where are you going?”

Daniel couldn’t speak. There was a lump on his throat as he remembered the way he’d acted the day before and the fact that Seongwoo had seen it all. The older boy waited for an answer, but when he noticed it wasn’t coming he started getting down from his bed.

“No…”

Whimpered Daniel, and he hated how weak he sounded. Seongwoo stopped moving, halfway down the stairs.

“No?”

He asked, trying to understand. Daniel shook his head.

“I’m sorry.” Seongwoo finished getting down and stood where he was, trying to find a way to comfort Daniel. He could see the boy was panicking, and he didn’t know what to do. “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

Seongwoo opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Jisung getting up.

“Hey, what’s going on? Where is…? Oh. Hey, Niel.”

Daniel shook his head. He wanted to get out, to get away.

“I’m sorry, hyung, I didn’t mean to. I swear it won’t happen again.”

The idea of his hyungs taking care of him kept running through his head, and he felt a mix of want and fear. He knew they would tell him it was weird and that he should see a therapist, he knew they thought he was a freak. But he didn’t want to hear it from them. He wanted to hold on to the thought that maybe, just maybe, they would accept him like he was.

“Niel, hey, calm down. You’re getting too worked up. There’s nothing to apologize for. We just need to talk. Ok?”

Daniel shook his head. He didn’t want to hear it. Jisung was saying that it was ok, but he didn’t believe it. It wasn’t ok. His behaviour wasn’t normal, he was a freak.

“I-I need to get ready. We have practice.”

He turned to leave again, but a hand on his wrist stopped him. He pulled against the grip, without facing the person.

“You’re not going to practice today. I’ll tell the others you’re sick and you, me and Seongwoo will stay here. I know you don’t want to, but we need to talk, Niel. And I know this is scary, but you don’t have to worry. It’ll be ok. Trust your hyung.”

Daniel didn’t trust him, and he didn’t want to have this talk, not now and not ever. But he was beginning to notice he had no choice. So he sighed and turned back around, without facing the others, before pulling his wrist from Jisung’s grasp and going to his bed. At least he could sleep more before he was told how much of a freak he was.

 

The dorm quickly became noisy, before getting incredibly quiet. Daniel was lying on his bed, waiting for Seongwoo and Jisung to come back, like they’d said they would, and he was trying to keep his eyes away from the plush toys at the end of his bed. He remembered the soft fur on his hands and against his face, and he wanted nothing more than to hold them again. But he couldn’t. He’d embarrassed himself enough the previous night, he didn’t want the others to come back to him playing with plushies.

So he played with his thumbs, to give his hands something to do, while he tried to get his thoughts in order. It was hard, because the first thing he needed to do was admit to himself that yes, he was a little. Yes, he enjoyed playing with plush toys, and he liked sleeping with them. Sucking on his thumb calmed him down, and having someone kiss his knee better made him feel good.

And he couldn’t admit it. Not even to himself. He was aware of all of that, but he couldn’t bring himself to actually say it. He didn’t want to say it. Saying it would make it real and he was still holding to a tiny little thread of hope that maybe it was just a one-time thing and he wouldn’t like it if it happened again. That the fact that every two seconds he felt the urge to play with the stuffed puppy by his feet meant nothing.

Daniel had just closed his eyes to try and relax a bit, since he couldn't sleep, when the bedroom door opened. Immediately he got up, throwing the plushie that had been in his hand away, cheeks flushed red. Seongwoo was making his way towards Jisung’s bed, the older following him. They sat down and motioned for Daniel to do the same. The boy hesitantly obeyed, sitting on his own bed, facing them.

“You can get your plushie if it makes you feel better, Niel."

Jisung’s voice was sweet, but his words made Daniel blush even more.

“It doesn’t make me feel better. And it’s not mine.”

Jisung shrugged, getting up to pick up the toy and sitting down with it on his lap. It took a lot of effort for Daniel to pry his eyes away from it.

“Niel. Can you look at me?”

Daniel sighed and faced the oldest boy.

“I’m s…”

He stared to apologize, but Seongwoo shushed.

“You try apologizing once more, Kang Daniel, and I’ll hit you.”

Daniel’s eyes widened and he clamped his lips shut. Internally, Seongwoo smiled at the childish action. Jisung was right, this was a part of who Daniel was.

“Ok, first things first. You know what happened yesterday, right? You know what it’s called and all of that.” Daniel sighed, but nodded. “And did you already know about being a little?”  
Daniel shuddered and bit on his lip, hard.

“I-I’m not… I’m not that. I’m not.”

Jisung sighed silently. This would be harder than he’d thought.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a little Niel. You know that, right?”

Daniel shook his head.

“It’s not normal, hyung. It’s wrong.”

“It’s not wrong. It’s a way to cope. Everyone has a way to cope.” Jisung’s voice was soft and gentle, and Daniel wanted to believe him, he really did. “You need a way to deal with stress, Niel, and if this is what helps you, then do it. You can’t let it get to the point where you just crash, like you did. That’s dangerous.”

Daniel was silent. Internally, he was having a fight. Half of him wanted to admit it already and just accept that he was a little and that was it. The other half was screaming at him that he was a freak and everyone would hate him. He looked at Jisung. The boy’s expression was soft, encouraging. Seongwoo was smiling sweetly at him.

“I’m scared.”

He said, finally. It was an admission he could bare. Jisung seemed to hesitate for a second, then he got up, plush toy still in his hand, and made his way next to Daniel, then he sat down and pulled the boy into a hug. Daniel yelped, startled, then froze for a second, before melting into the hug and burying his face on the older’s chest.

“It’s ok to be scared. This isn’t an easy thing to admit. But we’re here to help you, and we love you no matter what, Niel. We’ll be with you in this.”

There was some movement and then there was one more person hugging Daniel. He knew it was Seongwoo, and he shifted to hide his face on the older’s chest instead.

“Jisung hyung is right, Niel. We’ll always be here with you.”

Daniel found the plush toy Jisung had been holding and his hand closed around it.

“What if the others think I’m weird?”

He asked, but he could feel his internal struggle getting smaller and smaller, the side of his brain yelling that he was a freak growing more and more silent. Seongwoo squeezed him.

“They won’t. But you don’t need to tell them for now. Take your time to understand yourself better. Then, when you’re ready, you can tell them.”

Daniel sighed. They were silent for a while. Then Daniel spoke up.

“H-hyungs… I’m a little.”

He swallowed hard after admitting it, the fear bubbling in his stomach making him feel sick. Seongwoo squeezed his waist and Jisung pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

“Thank you for telling us. We’re proud of you.”

The words made something shift inside of Daniel and he gripped the plush dog harder.

“Fa... T-thank you, hyungs.”

He said, not exactly sure what he was thanking them for. Seongwoo pulled back, putting two fingers under Daniel’s chin and making him look up. He kissed the tip of Daniel’s nose.

“We love you, Niel.”

Daniel blushed at the action and felt a giggle bubbling up on his stomach. He bit his lip. He might have admitted it, but he would still rather not go in little space, especially not in front of his hyungs. But Jisung had a way of noticing things, and his hand rose to caress Daniel’s hair.

“Love, would you… would you like it if we were your caregivers? I know not all littles have or need a caregiver, but… it’s only if you want to, ok?”

Daniel wanted to. The moment the words came out of Jisung’s mouth Daniel’s heart started beating really fast, begging him to accept the offer. But he held back. He couldn’t. He couldn’t make them do that. He couldn’t let them see him like that. But before he could refuse, Seongwoo spoke up.

“It’s not a burden, if that’s what you’re worried about. You were just too cute, yesterday, and taking care of you would be a nice way to relax a bit and forget about the real world and all that.”

Daniel bit his lip. He could feel his will crumbling.

“But… but I…”

He tried to find a reason to deny, but there weren’t any. He couldn’t even bring himself to say that he didn’t want it, because he did, he wanted it so, so much.

“You don’t have to let us, Niel. But it’s ok if you want to. We want to take care of you. Do you want us to?”

Daniel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could feel his little self wanting to get out, and he knew it would be easier if he just let it happen. With a last shaky sigh he let go of his control and nodded his head.

“Want to.”

He said, gripping his puppy tighter. Jisung noticed the shift and smiled.

“Thank you, baby.”

Daniel made a whiny noise in the back of his throat at the nickname, hiding his face back on Seongwoo’s chest. The older boy laughed and ruffled Daniel’s hair.

“Hey there, baby. Can you come out? We can’t play if you’re hiding.”

This made Daniel peek out of his hiding spot, looking up at the older.

“Pway?”

Seongwoo nodded.

“We promised we would play today, didn’t we?”

Daniel nodded shyly and turned to Jisung. The oldest was internally squealing at the cuteness. He smiled at Daniel.

“We can play with your new friends, baby. Do they have names?”

Daniel looked at the puppy in his hands, then gasped, looking around. As soon as he spotted the fox at the end of the bed he leaned over Seongwoo trying to get it. Seongwoo let out a ‘oof’ before laughing and pushing Daniel back gently.

“I’ll get it for you, baby.”

He said, grabbing the fox plushie and giving it to Daniel. The boy gave him a little ‘thank you’, hugging the toy.

“Tis is Jiji.” He said, pointing at the puppy plushie. The boy’s cheeks grew red and he looked down. “Cause Jisun’ie ‘yung ‘ave it to Niel.”

Jisung cooed and pulled Daniel into a hug.

“That’s adorable, Niel!”

He said, making the boy blush more, but smile. Seongwoo fake pouted.

“But what about me, Niel?”

Daniel shyly lifted the fox plushie.

“Tis is Woo. C-cause it pwely, a-and Woo ‘yung pwely.”

Jisung couldn’t contain his chuckle. Daniel was too adorable with his little speech problems and his apparent crush on Seongwoo. Not to mention the way his natural 's' lisp got stronger when he was in little space. Seongwoo, on the other hand, was looking a bit lost, making Jisung laugh more.

“He said it’s pretty like you, Seongwoo.”

At that Seongwoo raised an eyebrow, before laughing softly.

“You think hyung is pretty? Thank you, baby.”

Daniel looked down, pouting.

“’yung no undestan’ Niel?”

Jisung noticed the slightly panicked look on Seongwoo’s face and decided to spare the boy.

“He’s still getting used to it, baby. Soon he’ll understand everything you say, ok?”

Daniel pouted a bit more, but sighed.

“Niell twy to ta’k be’er. Pwomise.”

Seongwoo’s and Jisung’s hearts melted and they cooed at the boy. Seongwoo was quicker, though, and pulled the boy to sit on his lap.

“It’s ok, baby. Just talk how you want, hyung will work hard to understand you, ok?”

Daniel nodded, then giggled when Seongwoo tickled him.

"'yung, s'op!"

Seongwoo laughed, but stopped. Daniel snuggled closer to him.

“’an we pway wif Jiji an’ Woo now?”

He asked. The older boys laughed and Jisung nodded.

“We can, baby. C’mon, I heard there’s a forest we could explore around here!”

Daniel squealed and got up, one hand holding his plushies and the other holding Seongwoo’s, as he excitedly made his way out of the room. Jisung followed, laughing fondly at the scene.

He hoped Daniel felt comfortable with his little self soon. He had a feeling it would be a lot of fun to have a little around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you guys like it?? ^.^


	4. Caregivers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the new chapter! Hope you like it ^.^

Minhyun was the first one to enter the dorm, ignoring the others’ questioning gazes as he rushed to take off his shoes and headed to Seongwoo’s, Daniel’s and Jisung’s room.

The day before, after Jisung explained to them what ageplay was, Minhyun had searched the internet for way longer than he should, looking for information on the topic. It was all very interesting, and the idea of Daniel being like that was adorable. Plus, there was also the term ‘caregiver’. Minhyun felt an instant connection with the term. The idea of having someone to take care of like that sounded appealing, more than it probably should, and Minhyun fell asleep wondering what would Daniel’s reaction be if Minhyun asked to be his caregiver.

He had pouted when Jisung asked him to go to practice with the others, but he understood the reasoning. As it was, he had been the whole day wondering how things had gone with Daniel, wondering what had happened. And then Jisung had sent him a video with the caption ‘erase after you see!’. Minhyun had opened and it had been extremely hard for him not to squeal out loud. It was a video of Daniel with one of the rabbit headbands they got at fansigns and his nose painted red – probably with lipstick.

“’yung wha’ soun’ wabbits ma’e?’

Said the boy, in the video, and his little speech problems made Minhyun want to crush him into a hug. Jisung made a weird noise, behind the camera, and Daniel broke out into giggles, and it was the most adorable thing Minhyun had ever seen. He wished he could have stayed too.

“Are you ok, Minhyun hyung? You look a bit constipated.”

The boy jumped up, startled by Daehwi’s voice. He quickly erased the video, reassuring the younger that he was fine. He spent the rest of practice dying to go home.

 

He knocked on the three boys’ room’s door and waited. In a few moments, Jisung’s head popped out and he smiled when he recognized the other boy, opening the door to let Minhyun in. Minhyun entered and was greeted with a scene that made him want to coo and laugh at the same time.

Daniel was dressed in an oversized white sweater and sweatpants, his improvised bunny costume still on. He was kneeling behind Seongwoo – who was sat on the floor – with a brush and a few hair pins and elastics in his hand, brushing the older’s hair and doing some sort of elaborate hair style. It looked hilarious. Daniel had tied three hair tufts, one on each side and one right on top of Seongwoo’s head, and if that wasn’t stylish, Minhyun didn’t know what was.

“Niel, I think your client needs to rest a bit. Why don’t you come say hi to Minhyun?”

At Jisung’s voice, both Daniel and Seongwoo turned around, and Seongwoo’s hair looked even worse from the front. Minhyun had a hard time not laughing, and Seongwoo gave him the finger, behind Daniel’s head. Minhyun rolled his eyes, then focused on Daniel. The boy was looking at him with wide eyes, hand gripping the brush tightly. Minhyun kneeled down.

“Hey there, Niel. How was your day?”

Daniel turned to look at Seongwoo, who gestured toward Minhyun.

“W-was good.”

Answered the little, looking at the older again. Minhyun smiled.

“It looks like you had fun. Did Jisungie and Seongwoo treat you well?”

Daniel nodded strongly at that.

“Jisun’ie ‘yung and Woo ‘yung let Niel pway a lot!”

Minhyun chuckled.

“That sounds great, baby. Can I play with you too, then?”

Daniel’s eyes lit up and he smiled shyly.

“Minmin ‘yung wan’ to pway wif Niel?”

Minhyun laughed.

“Of course, baby. I’ve been wanting to play with you all day.”

Daniel squealed and clapped, then took Minhyun’s hand and got up, dragging the older to his bed. Jisung and Seongwoo watched on, amazed at how quickly Minhyun had managed to make Daniel come out of his shell.

 

“Fowow me, Jiji!”

Minhyun had been smiling ever since him and Daniel started playing, one hour earlier. They’d already gone on a treasure hunt around the room, saved a family of monkeys, been stuck in a cavern – Minhyun still didn’t know how the two of them had fit under the bed – and were now on a quest to take the Great Globe back to the king – Seongwoo was enjoying his role way too much, and Daniel’s pillows wasn’t even round, but if the boy was happy, who was Minhyun to say anything?

“Careful, Woo! There’s a trap ahead!”

Daniel gasped and both, Minhyun and Seongwoo couldn’t stop themselves from laughing at the adorableness. Jisung had gone out to avoid suspicion – more suspicion – from the other members, and had left the three of them inside.

“We jump ovew it!”

And saying that he made the toy fox in his hands jump over nothing and lend on the other side, panting.

Minhyun was having fun. Taking care of Daniel had made him forget about all of the pressure being put on them. For a few hours, he could just enjoy playing with the little and looking after him, as if the rest of the world didn’t exist. He made a mental note to tell Daniel that. Jisung had told him that the boy was struggling to accept his identity as a little, and Minhyun wanted to help him feel comfortable.

He followed the boy and copied him, but then he noticed Daniel rubbing his eye with his fist – and god, how did he actually manage to look so much like a child? – and yawning. He glanced at Seongwoo, who was sitting on the bed, a paper crown on his head. The boy shrugged. Minhyun shrugged back, before putting Daniel’s plushie down.

“Niel, I think it’s time for a nap.”

At Minhyun’s suggestion, Daniel pouted.

“Nooooo.”

He whined, making the ‘o’ as long as he could. Minhyun chuckled.

“I can see your eyes closing, baby. You need to rest, or you’ll be grumpy later.”

Daniel’s pout deepened and he crossed his arms.

“Wanna pway, ‘yung.”

Minhyun stood up and offered a hand to the boy. Daniel took it and the older helped him stand.

“C’mon, don’t you want to dress like Spiderman?”

At the suggestion, Daniel perked up. He let Minhyun undress him and then put him in his Spiderman pyjamas, then clean his face as much as he could. Then the older gently pushed him onto the bed. Daniel yawned again.

“But Niel no want sweep.”

He said, but his eyes were already closing. Minhyun laughed and picked up the puppy plushie, giving it to Daniel. The boy immediately held on to it, bringing the toy close to his chest and hugging it. His thumb went to his mouth and he began sucking on it, like he’d done the day before. Minhyun smiled at the sight and covered Daniel, pressing a kiss to the boy’s forehead.

“Sleep tight, baby.”

He said, but Daniel was already asleep.

 

Jisung saw Seongwoo and Minhyun coming out of the room and frowned. He looked at Minhyun, who mouthed ‘asleep’ to him. The leader smiled and got up, heading to the room.

“Tell them Niel is getting better, they’ll ask.”

He told Minhyun and Seongwoo as he passed them, before entering his own room. Minhyun patted Seongwoo on the back and made his way to the kitchen to start dinner, leaving the younger to deal with the rest.

Seongwoo sighed, making his way to where Daehwi, Jinyoung, Jihoon and Woojin were playing video games and sat down on the couch, hoping they were too entertained to pay attention to him. Unfortunately, Sungwoon, Jaehwan and Guanlin weren’t playing, immediately flocked to Seongwoo.

“Hyung, is Niel hyung ok? What does he have? When will he be better?”

Seongwoo supressed a smile at Guanlin’s cuteness.

“He’s better. He’ll probably be ok, tomorrow, it’s nothing serious.”

Guanlin nodded, seeming relieved, and Seongwoo pinched his cheek, because how could he not? Guanlin whined and Seongwoo and the other two laughed. After that, no one asked anything else and Seongwoo relaxed, a smile taking his face as he remembered the day he’d spent.

Minhyun came to call them a while later, saying that dinner was ready. Seongwoo looked at the older and nodded, before heading to the room to check on Daniel and Jisung. He entered the room quietly, in case Daniel was still asleep.

“Jisung hyung?” He called, silently. The older looked up from his phone. “Dinner is ready, hyung.”

Jisung looked at Daniel and bit his lips.

“I don’t want to leave him alone, in case he wakes up.”

He explained. Seongwoo nodded.

“I can eat here and bring some food for when he wakes up. The others won’t find it weird.”

Jisung seemed to think for a bit, then shrugged, getting up. The two of them made their way to the kitchen and soon everyone was sitting around the table, the usual conversations going on, with Jihoon and Woojin teaming up against the others and everyone laughing. Seongwoo looked at the others, fondly, before taking his plate and the plate he’d made for Daniel and going back to the room.

He entered the room and closed the door, before sitting on the floor. But as soon as he sat down, Daniel whined and moved, turning to face Seongwoo and slowly opening his eyes. The older smiled.

“Hey, there.”

He greeted. Daniel only looked at him for a while, before his cheeks reddened and he took his thumb from his mouth, sitting up and pushing his plushies away.

“H-hey, hyung.”

Oh. So he wasn’t in little space anymore. Seongwoo felt a little pang of disappointment, but smiled nonetheless.

“How are you feeling?”

Daniel shrugged, cheeks still red.

“I’m good.”

Despite the short answer, Seongwoo noticed it was honest. Daniel was feeling good.

“That’s great, Niel.” He took the boy’s plate and handed it to him. Daniel accepted it and began eating. “You should eat well, you played a lot today.

The younger blushed more and frowned.

“Sorry, it must have been tiring for you guys to take care of me…”

Seongwoo sighed. He should have expected that.

“Don’t apologize. It wasn’t tiring, it was fun. We like taking care of you, Niel.”

The younger sighed.

“You say that now, but you’ll change your mind when you’re tired and want to sleep and have to keep me entertained.”

Seongwoo felt a pang on his heart. Did Daniel really believe that.

“Niel. We really like taking care of you. We won’t get tired. We won’t give up. Trust us a bit.”

The younger bit his lip, but nodded.

“I’m sorr…”

Seongwoo covered the boy’s mouth with his hand.

“Say sorry again, and you’ll sleep outside.”

Daniel scrunched his nose and licked Seongwoo’s hand. The older gasped, pulling his hand back.

“You’re disgusting!”

Daniel laughed and the older couldn’t help but to laugh to. It would take a while, but he wouldn’t rest until Daniel was fully comfortable with himself.

 

“Hey, Niel.”

Daniel looked up from his phone, spotting Minhyun. He felt his cheeks going red, fuzzy memories of the older playing with him making him cringe in embarrassment.

“Hi, hyung.”

Minhyun sat down on his bed, by his side. Daniel waited for him to talk.

“Did you like your day?”

This made Daniel blush even more, but he forced himself to nod. He had enjoyed the day. He was embarrassed to admit it, but he was feeling completely relaxed after his little trip to little space.

“I… had fun.”

He managed to say. Minhyun smiled and ruffled his hair.

“That’s good.” He hesitated for a second, then spoke again. “So, I know Seongwoo and Jisung hyung talked to you about this, earlier, and you already said yes to them, but… but I really wanted to be your caregiver, too. Would you like that?”

Daniel’s heart raced. Yes, of course he wanted that! If he was being honest, he wanted all of his member to be his caregivers - although he did want one person specifically to be his main caregiver -, but just the idea of telling them about this stuff was too embarrassing, imagine asking them to take care of him.

He didn’t answer immediately. He didn’t want to be a burden to another one of his hyungs, of his friends.

“You don’t have to…”

Was what he ended up mumbling. Minhyun didn’t say anything, but a second later there was a hand brushing Daniel’s bangs out of his face and making him look up.

“I want to. You said you’re a little, right? Well, I’m a caregiver. I’m into this as much as you are. I had fun today, and I felt at ease taking care of you, Niel.”

Daniel bit his lip and it hurt, probably because he’d been chewing on it so much lately. Minhyun sounded sincere. Daniel wanted to believe him.

“I-if you want to, you can.”

 

He chose to say. Minhyun shook his head.

“I want to, but do you want to?” Daniel didn’t answer verbally. Instead, he nodded and hid his face on Minhyun’s chest. The older’s arms wrapped around him, hugging him tight. “Thank you, Niel. This means a lot.”

They stayed like that for a while, and Daniel had never felt so safe.

 

“We should buy some things to him.”

Jisung and Seongwoo looked at Minhyun, both with questioning gazes on their faces. Daniel was asleep in his bed, plushie in his hand, despite not being in little space at the moment, and the other three were watching a movie on Jisung’s computer.

“Buy something… for who?”

Minhyun laughed at Seongwoo’s worried tone.

“Calm down, you didn’t forget anyone’s birthday. I’m talking about Niel. For when he’s little. He doesn’t have anything other then his plushies.”

At that, Seongwoo’s eyes sparkled.

“That’s actually a great idea, hyung!”

Minhyun raised an eyebrow, insulted.

“You don’t have to sound so surprised.”

Jisung and Seongwoo laughed.

“Where can we find things for him, though?”

Asked Seongwoo. Minhyun gestured for the computer and Jisung paused the movie – they were barely paying attention, anyways – and handed it to the younger. Minhyun took the computer and wrote something in the search bar, before turning the computer to the other two. Seongwoo’s eyes widened and the other two laughed.

“Where did you find this, Min?”

Asked Jisung. He’d been on those websites before, when his friend asked him for company while he bought some stuff for himself, but he had no idea why Minhyun would know about that. The younger boy shrugged, face slightly pink.

“I… did some research.”

He explained. Jisung smiled softly. He should have known Minhyun would relate to the little-caregiver dynamic, given how motherly he already acted on their every day life.

“There’s so much stuff.”

The two older boys turned to Seongwoo and laughed at the amazed look on his face.

“C’mon. We can pick two items each and give to him.”

They were tired and had to get up early the next morning, but the memory of Daniel’s excited face as he played with his stuffies was enough to keep them searching the online store for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it?


	5. Presents

Ever since they started doing ageplay with Daniel, the boy had gone into little space three times. It wasn’t much at all, considering they’d been doing it for a month.

It was very obvious to the three older boys that Daniel wanted to be little more often, but he still fought against it a lot, only letting go when very stressed or tired. The others were trying to come up with a system. When they noticed Daniel acting more childishly they coddled him and acted cute towards him, to help the boy get on the right headspace.

Unfortunately, it didn’t always work. When Daniel noticed what they were doing, he went out of his way to avoid them, and only came back when he was already out of what he’d consider a dangerous headspace.

“I just want him to be comfortable with it, hyung. Fighting his little side is doing nothing more than hurting him.”

It was night and Minhyun and Jisung were going over their week schedule together. It was Jisung’s job, but Minhyun liked to help, and Jisung wasn’t going to stop him. the older sighed as Minhyun whined to him. He, too, wanted Daniel to just accept himself and let them take care of him like they knew he wanted, but it was a slow process and they needed to be patient.

“I know it’s hard to wait, Min. But imagine how hard it is for Niel. You see how embarrassed he gets when we see him sleeping with his plushie, how do you expect him to react to being little around us?”

Minhyun sighed. He knew Jisung was right, but he just wanted to make Daniel feel good.

“When are the things we bought finally coming? I think they would help a lot.”

Jisung laughed. Minhyun had asked that three times a day ever since they ordered the stuff, until the leader had told him to calm down and wait. Now, it had been a few days since the last time the boy asked, so Jisung heeded his request and opened a new tab on his computer. After typing the site’s address, he looked for his purchases and a surprised smile took his face.

“Actually… they come in tomorrow.”

Minhyun immediately perked up.

“For real?”

Jisung nodded, resisting the urge to ruffle Minhyun’s hair.

“This is perfect. We have a free day the day after tomorrow. We can give these to Niel, then. He’s been acting very childish today, which means he’s been feeling stressed. These things will probably put him in little space. And then we’ll know what to use to help him feel little.”

Minhyun was almost jumping in excitement and Jisung said that, and the older laughed at him.

“Ah, hyung, I can’t wait to see his face when he sees it!”

Jisung shushed the boy, but he was still smiling.

“The others are sleeping, be silent. I can’t wait either, but for now, sit properly and lets finish this.”

 

On the next day, Seongwoo stayed back at the dorms to get the packages. Jisung instructed him to just put them away and go to practice, and the boy groaned something about not being a delivery boy, but Jisung could see he was as excited about this as him and Minhyun.

Seongwoo joined them around lunchtime, and there was a sparkle on his eyes. Jisung rolled his eyes and Minhyun pouted, both knowing that Seongwoo had already opened and seen everything they’d purchased. Jisung clapped his hands and made everyone stand up to restart practice. He wanted to go home soon.

After practice, they rushed home, and Jisung gave Seongwoo the job of distracting Daniel while him and Minhyun looked at the things that had arrived. Seongwoo pouted and whined, of course, but in the end he admitted to already seeing the things and agreed to keep Daniel busy for a while. Minhyun and Jisung didn’t miss the little happy smile on the boy’s face. And they didn’t miss the little blush on Daniel’s cheeks as Seongwoo took his hand and pulled him away to get ice cream.

The two boys went to Jisung’s room, where they find the boxes hilariously hidden. Jisung can’t keep himself from laughing, because Seongwoo had put everything on the leader’s bed and covered it with his sheets, and it looked ridiculous. By his side, Minhyun laughed too.

“Seongwoo is stupid.”

Jisung shoved the boy playfully.

“Don’t be mean. Now shut up and let’s open these boxes.”

They put the boxes on the floor and start looking at the things they’d bought. The agreement had been for each of them to buy two things. Seongwoo had bought an animal themed baby blue sippy cup and a toy robot for toddlers. They had guessed Daniel’s age to be around four years old, maybe a little less, maybe a little more, so it seemed appropriate. Jisung had bought a red pacifier with the words ‘little one’ in it and a set of play-doh. Daniel liked playing with things like that in his adult headspace, he could imagine how excited the boy would be about playing with it in little space.

And Minhyun had bought a space onesie and a set of Legos, the ones for younger kids, which were bigger. And then, without the other two knowing, he’d added a plushie to the order. It was a stuffed meerkat with big eyes and a pink bow around it’s neck. The fur was soft, and the toy was adorable. Jisung took a look at it and laughed.

“Yah, we said two each! Don’t go trying to buy his affection.”

Minhyun laughed, knowing the older was joking.

“I’m not doing that. I… I wanted a toy named after me.”

Jisung laughed, not having expected that.

“Cute. C’mon, let’s put these things away. We can give them to him tomorrow.”

They were getting rid of the boxes when Jisung’s phone rang. He frowned. Why was Seongwoo calling him?

“Seongwoo? Is everything ok?”

The voice on the other side was a bit desperate.

“We might have a problem…”

 

Thinking back, it probably wasn’t the best idea to take Daniel to eat ice cream when he was so close to the edge of falling into little space. But they were new to this, and they still didn’t know how Daniel worked. What made him regress faster, what helped him keep his adult headspace. Which was why Jisung didn’t blame himself and the other two too much when he had to rush out of the dorm to help Seongwoo out.

The boy had called him, half panicked, saying that they’d been eating ice cream at the park nearby the dorm when Daniel saw a butterfly and jumped up, running after it. He hadn’t noticed Daniel slipping into headspace. The boy had been quietly eating by his side, and maybe the way he was making a mess on his face trying to eat should have been a warning, but Seongwoo wasn’t paying much attention to that, because he just didn’t expect it.

It had taken him five seconds to process the situation and run after Daniel. Thankfully, he’d managed to catch the boy before he wandered too far or was seen. Except this made Daniel pout, and now Seongwoo was in the middle of a park with a crying Daniel by his side, because the boy didn’t understand why he couldn’t follow the butterfly. It didn’t help that his crying made his speech even worse and now Seongwoo was understanding less than 10% of the boy’s words.

When Jisung arrived, Seongwoo was trying to make Daniel laugh, with little success. The little was still crying, and Jisung thanked the heavens that the park was completely empty. He rushed to the other two, seeing the relief take Seongwoo’s face.

“Niel, baby, hey. What happened?”

Daniel looked up, startled, stopping his crying.

“J-Jisun’ie ‘yung?”

Jisung reached out to dry the boy’s cheeks.

“Yes, baby, it’s me. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

Daniel pouted.

“N-niel was fo’wing bu’efwy, but Woo ‘yung meanie din’t let Niel.”

Jisung cooed at the boy, trying not to laugh at Seongwoo’s sulky expression.

“Oh, baby, he was just taking care of you. It’s dangerous to run off like that. He was worried about you.” Daniel’s pout deepened and Jisung raked his brain for something to say. “Look, if you can be a good boy right now and come with hyungs without crying, hyung promises to take you to play with butterflies next week. Can you do that?”

At this, Daniel perked. He seemed to consider for a while, then nodded. He extended his hand to Jisung and the boy took it. By their side, Seongwoo snorted.

“Just like this? Are you serious?”

Jisung laughed.

“Let’s go, Seongwoo. We have presents for Niel, don’t we?”

 

When they arrived, Jisung entered first, leaving Daniel with Seongwoo. His grunge already forgotten, Daniel blushed as Seongwoo took his hand, and the older couldn’t help but to laugh, despite still being pissed that he was so bad at caring for the little. The idea of little Daniel having a crush on him was endearing. They waited outside for a while, sitting on the floor and playing with the little rocks on the sidewalk – Daniel’s idea.

After a while, Seongwoo offered his hand and convinced the little to leave the rocks and go inside so he could see his presents.

They entered the dorm silently. Daehwi, Jihoon and Woojin were in the living room, watching TV, and Daniel hid behind Seongwoo. He was shy around strangers, and the three were basically strangers to him. Seongwoo chuckled silently to himself and took the boy inside, knowing the others were too absorbed on the TV to pay any attention to them.

When they entered the room, Daniel gasped. Seongwoo raised an eyebrow. There was a pile of presents on the floor, and when had the other two bought wrapping paper?

“Hey, Niel. What do you think of your presents, baby?”

Daniel moved his wide eyes to Minhyun as the older spoke.

“F-for Niel?”

He asked, incredulous. Minhyun smiled fondly and nodded.

“They are all for you, baby.”

Carefully, Daniel sat on the floor, in front of the presents. He looked back up at the others.

“Tan Niel open?”

Jisung and Minhyun nodded, wanting to see the boy’s reaction to his presents.

“Go on, pumpkin.”

Daniel looked at the pile and picked the present on top. Then he carefully opened the package, making the other three laugh. They sat around the boy, watching him.

The first present he opened was the Lego set. He gasped and looked at the three older boys. Minhyun raised his hand and Daniel put his hands on his belly and bowed to him, thanking the boy and making the other three laugh at the adorableness. After that came the sippy cup, then the onesie, the play-doh and the toy robot, each item eliciting the same reaction from the little, who looked increasingly happy. 

The last item was the pacifier. Daniel squealed so loudly when he opened it, Jisung feared the others outside had heard it. But soon his attention was back on Daniel, who was nudging him shyly.

“Hey, baby, what is it?”

The boy handed him the package. Jisung raised and eyebrow and took it. He opened the package and put the clip on the pacifier, before offering it to Daniel. Instead of taking it, however, Daniel opened his mouth. Jisung laughed and put the item on the boy’s mouth.

Jisung’s heart melted as Daniel started to suck on his pacifier contentedly, sighing softly. He looked at the other two and laughed at the expressions on their faces, although he probably looked the same.

“Aigo, he’s too adorable.”

Cooed Minhyun. Daniel blushed and hid his face, giggling around the pacifier. Seongwoo chuckled and poked the boy’s side, making Daniel squeal and peek out from behind his hands. They had already noticed how much Daniel enjoyed being tickled, so before they could begin a war, Minhyun interrupted.

“I have one last present for you, baby. After that you can play as much as you want, ok?” Daniel looked up, interested. Minhyun got up and headed to his closet, coming back right after with something behind his back. “Close your eyes and extend your hands.”

Daniel obeyed. He loved when they did that, and was always quick to obey, dying to see what he would get.

Minhyun carefully put the toy meerkat on Daniel’s hands and the boy let out a little gasp, already guessing it was a plushie. Minhyun told him to open his eyes.

Once again, Daniel’s squeal was way too loud, but none of the others could bring themselves to care when the boy hugged the toy tightly to his chest, burying his nose on the fur.

“Fank you, fank you, fank you!” He repeated around his pacifier, squeezing the toy. “Fnak you, papa!”

Minhyun froze. Seongwoo and Jisung froze. Daniel seemed to notice the change on the atmosphere and looked up, eyes wide and scared.

“Niel…”

Minhyun started. Daniel’s eyes filled with tears.

“S-sowy. D-din’t mean to…”

Minhyun was startled by the tears and rushed to pull the boy into a hug.

“Oh no, baby boy, don’t apologize. It’s ok, I love it. Papa loves it, ok? Don’t cry, shh, it’s ok.”

Daniel buried his face on the older’s chest, plushie still on a strong grip, squished between the two of them.

“I-it otay?”

He asked, insecure. Minhyun kissed the top of his head.

“It’s more than ok, Niel. It’s perfect.”

Daniel sniffed, then looked up.

“Tis is Minmin. C-cause Niel cawed papa that.”

Minhyun couldn’t help but to pull the boy into another hug, wiggling his fingers against the boy’s ribs and making Daniel giggle and run away. The other two seemed to get out of their states of shock after hearing the boy giggle, and although Seongwoo glared at Minhyun, they soon were focused on entertaining the little.

 

Seongwoo was sulking.

“I can’t believe he chose you to call that.”

Minhyun laughed. He had hoped to be the first caregiver to get a better nickname than just a shorter version of his name, but he didn’t think it would happen. He was still in cloud nine, laughing to himself every time he remembered Daniel calling him ‘papa’.

Daniel was currently playing with his Legos, Jisung helping him build… well, something. He was dressed on his new onesie and still hadn’t let go of his pacifier.

“Don’t be jealous, Seongwoo. You’re still the one he has a crush on.”

Seongwoo rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, the door opened. Woojin peeked his head through it.

“Hey, hyungs, why…?”

And then he stopped. The three caregivers looked at the boy, eyes wide, before looking at Daniel, then back to Woojin’s raise eyebrow. And then the boy closed the door and left. Jisung, Minhyun and Seongwoo looked at each other.

“Shit.”

Was all Jisung could say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And do you guys think???


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's bit short :(
> 
> Hope you guys like it though!!!
> 
> So, tomorrow I'm going back home (I've been in Korea for a month yay), and it's a long trip. So this will be the last chapter for a while, probably two or three days. But then I'm back, and since I'll be home I'll probably write more!!!
> 
> Anyways, I'll let you guys read now ^.^

“’Yung! Tat’s bad wowd!”

Jisung looked at the little, who was looking at him with a scared look on his face. He would have laughed at the fact that a simple ‘shit’ affected the boy so much, but he was freaking out too much to find anything funny.

“Sorry, Niel. It slipped out, hyung won’t do it again, k?”

Niel nodded, seemingly calmed down. Jisung exchanged a look with the other two.

“Niel, Jisung hyung and papa have to solve some things, can you play with Woo for a while?”

Asked Minhyun. Seongwoo relaxed a bit, relieved at not being asked to go talk to Woojin. Daniel looked at them, confused.

“Niel do someting wong?”

Minhyun cooed.

“No, baby, you did nothing wrong. We’ll be right back, you won’t even notice we left.”

He said, pressing a kiss to the boy’s forehead. Jisung kissed his nose and got up, and the two boys went looking for Woojin.

 

The first place they looked was the living room, but only Daehwi, Jinyoung and Jihoon was there. This was already weird, considering the gigantic crush Woojin had on Jihoon, which caused him to follow the slightly older boy around. They tried the kitchen, too, and then, when he wasn’t there, they headed to the boy’s room.

The door was closed. Jisung knocked. They didn’t usually knock, but then again, this wasn’t a usual situation.

“Come in?”

Came Woojin’s confused voice. Jisung looked at Minhyun, who nodded, and both boys entered the room, closing the door. Woojin was on his bed, wearing a confused expression that disappeared when he saw who it was at the door. He sat up.

“Hey, Woojinie.”

Greeted the oldest, sitting on a bed facing Woojin’s.

“Hey. Is everything ok?”

Jisung bit his lip and looked at Minhyun, now knowing exactly what to say.

“Uhn, just now you… you saw us with Niel, and…”

Minhyun stopped. He truly had no idea where he was going with that sentence. Woojin’s eyes moved from Minhyun to Jisung, a little frown on his face.

“Yeah, and…?

Minhyun shook his head, nudging Jisung for the boy to take over. He was the leader, after all. Jisung shoved him back.

“Look, I know it probably looked weird, and you’re probably thinking we are freaks, but…” Woojin’s frown had deepened. “But we can explain, it’s not really weird, and…”

Minhyun stepped on Jisung’s foot. The leader stopped talking and glared.

“Hyung, you’re making it worse!”

He complained. Jisung raised an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah? So why don’t you try it, then?”

Minhyun rolled his eyes.

“I could definitely…”

Woojin’s voice interrupted them.

“Hyungs, are… why are you here?”

Minhyun and Jisung stopped their stupid fight and looked at the younger. Minhyun opened his mouth, but Jisung was quicker.

“You ran away, and we didn’t want you to get the wrong idea or tell anyone. We don’t want you to hate Niel. We know you probably…”

Woojin screeched.

“Wait, what?” Jisung and Minhyun looked at the boy, confused. Woojin seemed absolutely lost. “What do you mean, hate Niel hyung?”

The two older boys shrugged.

“You probably found it weird, which is why you ran away, so…”

Said Minhyun, trailing off. Woojin shook his head, incredulous.

“What? No, I just… I didn’t want to interrupt, so I left, hyungs. I was going to ask you guys about it later, but I didn’t… I couldn’t hate Niel hyung. Who do you think I am?”

Minhyun felt a weight being lifted off of his shoulders, and only then he understood a bit better why Daniel was so scared of this. It was probably scary as hell, not knowing how your friends would react to something that was part of who you were. Minhyun had gone through that, when he started telling his friends that he was bisexual. But even that was more accepted than ageplay, so Minhyun could only imagine how much worse this was for Daniel.

“We just… well, this isn’t exactly common, so we were scared you would misinterpret or find it weird.”

Said Jisung, sheepishly. Woojin snorted.

“Ah, hyungs. I’m not like that. I know too well what it’s like being… whatever, just… I wouldn’t hate Niel hyung. But I've got to admit I’m curious.”

Minhyun noticed a glint of something there, but decided not to comment. Judging by the one-second panicked expression on the boy’s face, it was a sensitive topic. He could ask later, when they cleared things up about Daniel.

“Niel is a little.”

Said Jisung. Woojin nodded, clearly not understanding what that meant, and Minhyun laughed.

“Yes, that explains everything, Jisung hyung.”

Jisung smiled brightly at him.

“Then my job here is done.”

Woojin laughed and Minhyun snorted. He noticed the older was trying to lighten things up, and he was glad for it.

 

After they explained everything, Woojin had a big smile on his face. It reminded Minhyun of himself, when he’d found out about it, but Woojin wasn’t hiding his excitement, like Minhyun had done. It was cute, Woojin was cute.

“So he acts like a kid? How old is he, hyung?”

Minhyun wanted to ruffle the kid’s hair, but Jisung was quicker.

“You’re adorable, Woojin-ah! And Niel is around four, most of the time. Or that’s what it seems like.”

Woojin nodded, still smiling, not even complaining about his now messed up hair.

“Can I meet him, hyung? Pretty please?”

Jisung and Minhyun looked at each other. Minhyun shrugged.

“We can ask him if he’d like to meet you. If he agrees, then I don’t see why not.”

Woojin was almost beaming with excitement as he nodded.

 

“Papa! Jisun’ie ‘yung!”

Both boys were hit by a little excitedly hugging them. The let out an ‘oof’, because Daniel may have the mental age of a four year old at the moment, but he was still… well, Daniel. 60cm shoulders Daniel.

“Hey, baby.” Managed Minhyun, a little breathless. “Did you have fun with Woo?”

Daniel let go of them and beamed at the older boys, nodding. He rushed back to where a bunch of Legos were pilled up and proudly presented it.

“We maked a city.”

Minhyun tilted his head at the construction, then smiled.

“It looks pretty, baby boy.”

Daniel blushed at the compliment and Seongwoo laughed, reminding Minhyun that he was there.

He’d been having fun with Daniel, finding it absurdly cute when their hands brushed as he passed a block to the little and the boy went all giggly and blushy. He was still worried about Woojin, but playing with Daniel had a way of putting him at ease.

Minhyun sat down on the floor, patting his lap, and Daniel got the hint and sat on the boy’s lap, snuggling close to him – and no, Minhyun didn’t know how he fit, but he did, and he even managed to look small, curled up against Minhyun.

“Niel, we were talking to Woojinie, and he said he really wanted to meet you. Do you want to meet him?”

Asked Jisung, tone soft, but without beating around the bush. Daniel looked up.

“Jinnie ‘yung wanna meet Niel?”

Jisung nodded, smiling.

“Yes, he was really excited to play with you, but we wanted to ask you first.”

Daniel bit on his lip and Minhyun gently stopped him, putting his pacifier back on his mouth. The boy sighed around it, thankful, as his lip was still hurting from when he bit on it.

“Jinnie ‘yung wike Niel?”

He asked, after a while. Jisung nodded.

“He really likes you, Niel.”

Daniel looked at Minhyun, who nodded.

“Then Niel meet Jinnie.”

The three boys in the room smiled as Daniel hid his face on Minhyun’s chest.

“That’s great, baby. I’ll go get him.”

 

Woojin entered the room looking around curiously. Daniel was taking his Lego city apart and making something else, with Minhyun’s help. He spotted the boy, who was still sucking on his pacifier, and Jisung could see the boy squealing inside. He laughed.

“Niel, can you come here a second?”

Daniel turned around, then blushed when his eyes settled on Woojin. He scooted closer to Minhyun.

“Hey, Niel.” Greeted Woojin, softly, kneeling on the floor. “Were you playing with Minhyun hyung?”

Daniel nodded shyly.

“Was ma’ing a spaceship.”

The word ‘spaceship’ came out a little mumbled, because Daniel wasn’t sure how to pronounce it, and Minhyun just wanted to laugh at how Woojin seemed to be internally dying at the cuteness.

“A spaceship? That amazing! We can explore another planet! Or another galaxy!”

Daniel’s eyes went wide, shining as he stared at Woojin. He even let his pacifier fall from his mouth, too excited to care about it. (Minhyun was so glad they’d clipped it to his onesie)

“Yes! Niel want to expwowe pwanets, a-and gawacies!”

Woojin’s smile got even bigger.

“We can go on your spaceship. It’ll be an adventure!”

Daniel clapped.

"Jiji, Woo and Minmin tan tome? Pwewy pwease!"

Woojin's eyes followed to where Daniel was pointing, and he laughed as he spotted three stuffed animals sitting on the boy's bed.

"Of course, we'll be a group of explorers!"

Minhyun, Seongwoo and Jisung watched the interaction, trying hard not to laugh. It was hard to tell who was more excited, Woojin and Daniel, and it was adorable.

“Alright, space explorers, you can’t go anywhere if you don’t have a spaceship.”

Said Seongwoo. Daniel gasped and he took Woojin’s hand, pulling the boy to sit by his side. Woojin looked like he’d just been invited to have tea with the Queen.

 

Daniel fell asleep a little bit after lunch – they definitely needed to buy a bib. And plastic utensils. While he napped, with Seongwoo by his side, reading as he watched the little, Jisung decided to watch TV for a bit, and Woojin was leaving for his room when Minhyun stopped him. Now was as good a moment as any.

“Hey, Woojinie. Can we talk?” Woojin frowned, but nodded. Minhyun pulled him to the kitchen, which was now empty, and the two boys sat down around the table. “So, what did you think of Niel.”

An easy smile took over Woojin’s face.

“He’s adorable, hyung. I had fun playing with him.”

Minhyun smiled too.

“Yeah, it’s nice. You seemed to be having fun.” Woojin nodded, still smiling to himself. Now came the harder part. “Earlier, though, when we went to talk to you…” Woojin tensed, and Minhyun knew there was something there. “You said something about knowing what it’s like to be… well, you didn’t complete it, but I’m guessing you were going to say ‘weird’, or different.”

Woojin didn’t reply immediately. He looked at his hands, thumbs playing with each other. Minhyun waited.

“It’s… it’s nothing, hyung. I just know what it’s like. Being born in a way that… that people think is wrong, or weird, or impossible.”

Minhyun frowned. If he had to guess, he’d say it had something to do with Woojin’s sexuality. It was obvious the boy had a crush on Jihoon, so he probably wasn’t straight, although he’d never actually said anything. But Minhyun was out to the group as bisexual, and Seongwoo and Daniel were both out as gay, so… so it had to be something else.

“I won’t make you talk, Woojinie. But just know that if you want to talk to someone about it, I’m here. I won’t judge. I promise.”

Woojin seemed like he might say something else, but instead he sighed.

“Thank you, hyung.”

Minhyun ruffled his hair. He was a bit disappointed, but he knew Woojin would look for him when he was ready.

“Anytime, Woojinie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm excited to write about Woojin, but I have to have control... hope you guys liked it, comments and feedback are appreciated, love u <333


	7. Daehwi, Jinyoung And a Mess

Daniel didn’t want to get up. More specifically, he didn’t want to face Woojin, and if he got up he’d have to face the boy, whether he wanted to or not.

He’d come out of headspace a while after waking up from his nap, the day before, and Seongwoo had been the only one around. It had been embarrassing, and no matter how much Seongwoo reassured him that it was ok, Daniel still wanted to bury himself in the ground and disappear. He always felt awkward around the others when he came out of little space. But this time… well, this time Woojin had been there, too, and while Daniel was glad he accepted him and wouldn’t tell anyone else, his cheeks heated up at the mere though of Woojin seeing him in his onesie and sucking on his pacifier.

“Niel, c’mon, we have practice. Get up.”

Daniel sighed at Jisung’s voice.

“Don’t wanna.”

He whined. A sigh came from somewhere near him and then he was being uncovered. He frowned at the sudden light.

“Get up now, or I’ll make you.”

The threat was enough to make Daniel open his eyes. Jisung wasn’t the biggest member and didn’t have the biggest muscles, but Daniel knew better than to test him. He sat up, fiddling with his thumb.

“But hyung… Woojinie.”

Jisung looked at him, one eyebrow raised.

“What about Woojinie?”

Daniel blushed.

“He saw.”

Jisung sighed and sat down next to Daniel.

“Niel, we’ve talked about this. Woojinie won’t even mention anything, and he had fun yesterday. Why are you so worried about this?”

Daniel looked at his hands.

“He’s younger than me. He shouldn’t see his hyung acting like a toddler.”

Jisung smiled softly.

“Niel, I’m sorry to break this to you, but you always act like a toddler. Your nickname isn’t Kang Choding for nothing, love.”

Daniel blushed and pouted.

“But that’s different.”

He whined, making Jisung chuckle and pinch his cheeks.

“Woojinie doesn’t care, Niel, and he doesn’t see you any differently, ok? Now get up, before you’re late.”

Daniel sighed once again, but got up. He’d have to face the younger sooner or later, anyways.

 

Woojin pouted as Daniel ran away from him once again. The first time it happened, when Daniel rushed to sit somewhere else when Woojin tried to sit next to him on the van, the younger hadn’t thought much of it. Maybe Daniel just found a better place to sit. But then it had happened again, and one more time, and then another one, until Woojin noticed that the older was doing it on purpose.

He sighed, sitting down against the practice room’s wall, where seconds earlier Daniel had been resting. He didn’t know what he’d done wrong, and he couldn’t exactly ask if Daniel didn’t even let him come near him. He was ripping a piece of paper apart when someone sat next to him and stopped his act. The boy turned around and spotted Minhyun.

“Stop doing this, you’re making a mess.”

The older’s tone was soft, despite his words. Woojin looked at the floor, which was littered with little pieces of paper.

“Sorry, hyung.”

Minhyun let go of his hand and ruffled his hair.

“You’ve noticed Niel has been avoiding you, hum?”

Woojin shrugged.

“I don’t know what I did, hyung.”

Minhyun chuckled.

“That’s because you didn’t do anything.”

Woojin frowned.

“What do you mean?”

Minhyun gestured towards Daniel. Woojin looked in time to see Daniel looking away from him quickly, cheeks reddening. The younger turned to Minhyun, more confused than he was before. Minhyun laughed.

“He’s embarrassed about yesterday. From what Jisung hyung told me, he’s scared you see or treat him differently now that you know about him being a little.”

Woojin’s eyebrows rose so high they almost disappeared behind his hair.

“Doesn’t Niel hyung know that he always acts like a kid? Why would I treat him differently because of that? He’s still my hyung.”

Minhyun nodded.

“That’s what Jisung hyung told him, but… I don’t know, I think this whole thing really scares Niel, and having one more person knowing is probably making him uneasy. You should talk to him, though.”

Woojin sighed.

“How can I, hyung? He won’t even let me go near him.”

Minhyun chuckled at the way the boy whined.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you two alone.”

 

Daniel hated Minhyun and Jisung. Absolutely hated them. How could they trick him into this? He sighed and sat with his back against the door, still avoiding looking at his dongsaeng.

“They can’t leave us here forever.”

He reasoned, more to himself than to Woojin, as he tried once again to open the practice room’s door with no success.

“Hyung…” Started Woojin. This wasn’t what he was expecting when Minhyun told him he’d get Woojin and Daniel alone, but it would have to do. “Hyung, can you look at me?”

Daniel shook his head. No, he couldn’t.

“They can’t leave us here forever.”

He repeated. Woojin sighed and walked up to the older, kneeling in front of Daniel.

“Minhyun hyung told me you’re embarrassed about yesterday, hyung. Is it true?”

Daniel didn’t answer for a second, busy silently cursing Minhyun and Jisung and everyone else who could be involved in this. Then he sighed.

“I just don’t see how you can look at me the same as before, Woojinie.”

He admitted. Clearly, he wasn’t getting out of there anytime soon, so it would be quite hard to avoid Woojin. Said boy scooted closer.

“I know how to separate things, hyung. No matter how you act when you’re little, you’re still my hyung, and when you’re in your adult headspace, you’re still the same Daniel hyung I’ve always known. So I don’t see you differently and I won’t treat you differently. I can play with you when you’re little, and I’ll continue to treat you like I always did when you’re not little. Plus, even if you didn’t know before or didn’t act on it, you’ve always been a little. So there really isn’t a difference between now and then. Ok, hyung?”

Halfway through Woojin’s little speech, Daniel had looked up, staring at the younger boy, stunned. Woojin was always running around the dorm joking around and pranking the others with Jihoon. Daniel didn’t know the boy had this side to him. Almost without noticing, he nodded.

“Ok.”

He agreed. Woojin smiled.

“Can I hug you, hyung?”

Daniel nodded again and Woojin threw himself at the older, making the boy laugh. As he hugged Woojin, he sighed. Maybe this wasn’t so bad. Maybe he could live with this.

 

After his talk with Woojin, to everyone’s surprise, Daniel got more comfortable with his little side. He still blushed a lot when the others mentioned it while he was in his adult headspace, and he was still embarrassed about it when he came out of headspace. But he stopped running away when the others noticed he was feeling little, and let them help him get into little space, although he didn’t actively tell them when he wanted it.

Slowly, the boys got used to it and created a sort of pace. They noticed Daniel feeling little and found a little time to get the boy away from others and let him be as little as he needed to be. It wasn’t easy. They had to keep Daniel as quiet as possible, and they could only stay with him two at a time, no matter how much they wanted to coddle and play with him all at once. But it helped Daniel, and so they did what they could to help the boy and keep him happy.

They should have known, really, that they wouldn’t be able to keep this a secret for too long.

 

They had had a stressful week. Their schedule as Wanna One had been packed, and then half of them had had a lot of personal schedules, and they were tired. Daniel had been feeling on edge for three days, and his caregivers had noticed, but all of them knew there just wasn’t time for the boy to be little. So when Sunday came and they were granted the afternoon to rest, they should have known what would happen.

Jisung was lying on his bed, half-asleep despite it being two in the afternoon, when someone entered the room and suddenly a weight was crushing him.

“Oof. Hey, what the hell?”

He looked up, only to spot Daniel, smiling at him. He sighed.

“Hey, hyung.”

Jisung smiled slightly at the boy.

“Hey, Niel. Can you get up? You’re crushing me.”

Daniel pouted, but did as he was told.

“Ok, hyung.”

He sat next to the bed and Jisung sighed in relief. He picked his phone, now that he wasn’t feeling sleepy anymore. He was scrolling through it when he noticed that Daniel was still by his bed, looking at him expectantly.

“Do you need anything?”

Daniel bit his lip at the question, and stared at Jisung, and the older knew there was something he was missing there, but he was too tired to connect things. After a while, Daniel’s expression became sad and a bit embarrassed, and he shook his head.

“Nothing, hyung.”

The boy got up and made his way out of the room. Jisung frowned. He should really go after Daniel and get the truth out of the boy, but… he was so comfortable… Daniel could deal with it on his own, surely.

After Jisung, Daniel went looking for Minhyun. He found the boy in his room, but Minhyun was asleep, and no matter how much he wanted someone to help him, Daniel didn’t have the courage to wake the boy up, when he knew how tired he was. He moved on, looking for Seongwoo.

He walked through the dorm, trying to keep himself in his adult headspace. He didn’t want to fall in little space with none of his caregivers around, especially when everyone else was at the dorm. This task, however, was proving itself hard to do. He passed the living room, where Sungwoon was beating Jihoon’s ass on the game they were playing, and the colours attracted Daniel. It took a lot of effort for the boy to tear his eyes apart from the screen and keep looking.

He didn’t want to go to Woojin, but at this point, even he would do. The problem was, him and Seongwoo seemed to have dropped form the face of Earth, and Daniel was feeling panic bubbling in his stomach as he felt himself feeling more and more little and still wasn’t able to find his caregivers. He could go back to Jisung, of course, but the older clearly wanted to be left alone at the moment, so Daniel felt guilty about disturbing him.

If he could only… he stopped and took a few steps back, peeking his head through the door. Daehwi was alone in his room, and on the floor was lying a plush charmander. Daniel swallowed hard, trying to focus on getting out of there, but before he knew it he was already making his way to the plush toy, all thoughts of finding his caregivers and staying in his adult headspace forgotten.

 

Daehwi was lying on his bed when the room’s door opened. He looked up to see Daniel entering, eyes focused on something. Daehwi followed his hyung’s gaze, stopping on the plush toy – Jinyoung’s toy – on the floor. He raised an eyebrow and was about to ask if Daniel needed anything when the older reached the toy and picked it up, squealing.

“Hyung?”

Asked Daehwi, confused. Daniel immediately turned around, a big smile on his face.

“Cha’mandew!”

If Daehwi’s eyebrows could go any higher, they would have.

“Uhn, yes, hyung, it’s Jinyoung’s plushie.”

Daniel bit his bottom lip.

“Niel pway?”

Daehwi had never been so confused.

“Uhn, sure, you can play.”

Daniel squealed happily and sat on the floor, playing with the plush toy. Daehwi stared for a second, absolutely confused. He tried to put things in order. Ok, so. Daniel was acting like a toddler. Not that that was unusual, but he didn’t usually play with toys, no matter how childish he was. He was also talking like a toddler, and although all of them knew Daniel couldn’t pronounce the ‘s’ correctly, he’d never talked like that. He glanced at the boy.

Daniel was sitting on the floor, making charmander walk around growling. A little smile appeared on Daehwi’s face. He didn’t know what was going on, but it was pretty cute to watch. He decided to make an experience. Careful not to startle the boy, he made his way next to Daniel and sat down.

“Hey. Can I play with you?”

Daniel looked up, mouth hanging slightly open, then smiled.

“Uhum! We goin’ to save the city!”

Daehwi smiled.

 

Daehwi opened his mouth in – fake – shock as charmander crushed the bad guys – Daehwi’s socks – under his feet, growling. Then he clapped.

“You’ve made it! Now the city can finally live in peace!”

Daniel squealed happily and clapped too, and Daehwi couldn’t help but to pinch his cheeks, making the boy giggle.

“Now we go to the othew city!”

Daehwi laughed. They’d been playing for a good half hour, and Daehwi was having fun. Daniel was adorable, and he loved Daehwi’s reactions, giggling and clapping at the younger boy. It was nice and relaxing, and even if Daehwi had no idea what was going on, he hoped he could always participate in it.

“Let’s go, then, we can’t…”

The room’s door opened and Daehwi froze. Daniel, noticing the change, turned around. Standing by the door, was Jinyoung.

“What’s going on here?”

He asked. Daehwi gulped. He didn’t have a good feeling about this. Before he could speak, though, Daniel answered.

“We wewe pwaying!”

He said, happily. Daehwi watched as Jinyoung raised his eyebrow. He really didn’t have a good feeling about this. Jinyoung turned to him.

“Why is Daniel hyung speaking like that? And what does he mean, playing?”

Daehwi tried to look for an excuse, but he couldn’t find anything.

“Uhn, we just… he found your plushie and he wanted to play with it, so I let him, hyung.”

Jinyoung frowned.

“He’s twenty-two years old. Why is he playing with plushies? Why is he playing at all?”

By Daehwi’s side, Daniel whimpered. The younger moved a bit so he was half in front of the older. He shrugged. He didn’t know what was going on, really, but Daniel looked so happy that it couldn’t be bad to let the boy be.

“I just…”

They were interrupted by a panicked Jisung entering the room.

“Hey, have you guys seen Ni…”

He stopped as he took in the scene. His eyes travelled from Daniel to the way Daehwi was standing in front of the boy to Jinyoung’s frown and he gulped.

“Jisun’ie ‘yung.”

Came Daniel’s little whine. Jisung immediately kneeled down.

“Hey, Niel, come here.”

Daniel rushed to get up and ran to the older, jumping on him. Daehwi expected Jisung to fall back, because Daniel wasn’t exactly small, but instead the older picked Daniel up and held him tightly, caressing his hair.

“Ok, what the hell is going on here? First I walk in on Daehwi and Daniel hyung playing with plush toys, then hyung is talking like a baby and now this? What is wrong with all of you?”

Daehwi flinched, but Jisung glared.

“We can talk about this later, Jinyoung. For now…”

But Jinyoung was having none of it.

“No, we’re talking about this right now, hyung. You can’t expect me to find it normal that my hyung is acting like a baby!”

On Jisung’s arms, Daniel whimpered and hid his face. Jisung glared at Jinyoung.

“Just drop it, Jinyoung. I’ll explain later. You’re making Daniel upset.”

Daehwi opened his mouth to try and calm his hyungs down, but Jinyoung was faster.

“Oh, I’m upsetting the baby? Seriously, hyung, can’t you see how weird all of this is?”

Jisung seemed about to kill Jinyoung.

“For fucks sake, Jinyoung, why…”

Before he could finish, though, Daniel wiggled his way out of Jisung’s arms and ran away. Daehwi tried to stop him, heart breaking as he saw the tears on the boy’s cheeks, but Daniel was faster, and soon he’d disappeared from sight.

“Hyung…”

Daehwi started, not sure whom he was addressing. Jisung cursed under his breath.

“I’m gonna kill you.”

He mumbled, before disappearing after Daniel.

And like this, Jinyoung and Daehwi were left alone. The older turned to Daehwi.

“What? Are you pissed at me too?”

Daehwi didn’t want to be mad a Jinyoung, but the look on Daniel’s face…

“You didn’t have to be so harsh, hyung. You could have waited for Jisung hyung to explain everything.”

Jinyoung rolled his eyes.

“Not you, too.”

He mumbled, before heading to his bed and lying down, putting his earphones in. Daehwi sighed and left the room. He wanted to see how Daniel was doing.


	8. Explaining

Jisung had woken up not even ten minutes after falling asleep, eyes wide. He’d finally noticed what had bothered him about Daniel’s behaviour, and he couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid. Daniel had been showing signs of feeling little for days, but there hadn’t been time for it. He should have known that as soon as they had time, the boy would want to be little and relax.

He got up, internally hitting himself. Daniel had gone to him, he’d actually gone to him wanting Jisung to help him get into little space, and Jisung had pushed him away. It hadn’t a verbal request, of course, but it was the first time Daniel actually sought someone when feeling little. And Jisung had fucked up.

And now he had to find Daniel, console the boy and explain things to Daehwi and Jinyoung, and then later tell Daniel that the two younger boys knew about him, and Jinyoung didn’t look too inclined to accept it, and…

Jisung’s train of thought was interrupted by Jaehwan cleaning his throat. He looked up, cursing under his breath as he spotted the boy carrying a crying Daniel.

“Hyung, can you explain me why, exactly, Niel is crying his heart out and clinging to me?”

This was a mess.

 

Jisung ended up calling Seongwoo, who had been in the kitchen doing a list of things they needed to buy. The boy had taken Daniel away, and Jisung was left with Jaehwan and a breathless Daehwi, who had entered the room running asking for Daniel.

He had stared at the two for a while, before sighing.

“Let’s go to your room, Daehwi. There are too many people who know about this already, and considering that it was supposed to be a secret, that’s not very good.”

So they’d gone to Daehwi’s room, and Jinyoung had accepted to hear the whole explanation. Jisung had explained everything, including how scared Daniel was of the others finding out, and how he planned on telling them in the future, when he was more comfortable with himself.

Each boy had a different reaction. Daehwi seemed to be the more accepting, smiling at the idea of Daniel playing and seeming interested in the dynamics they had going. Jaehwan was just listening, although sometimes he smiled a little at one thing or another. Jinyoung… Jinyoung frowned the whole way through.

“So, that’s it, I think.”

There was silence for a second, before Daehwi broke it.

“So I can play with him when he’s little, hyung?”

Jisung smiled. Daehwi was a good kid.

“Sure. I’m sure he’ll be happy to have someone to play with besides Woojinie.”

Daehwi smiled happily. Jaehwan was the next to speak.

“I don’t have to be a caregiver, do I? Cause I’d like to be with Niel when he’s like this, but… yeah, taking care isn’t my strong suit.”

Jisung laughed, remembering how Jaehwan had managed to kill a cactus, the easiest plant there was to take care of.

“You don’t have to be a caregiver, no. You can just play with him, like Woojinie does.”

Jaehwan smiled.

“That sounds nice.”

Jisung smiled. And then he turned to Jinyoung. The boy huffed.

“I don’t know what you’re expecting me to say, hyung. This whole thing is weird as hell, I don’t want to be part of this. I’m not gonna tell anyone, but don’t do this shit in front of me.”

Jisung frowned, but before he could argue, Daehwi spoke up.

“It’s just a way to cope with stress, hyung. There’s nothing wrong with Niel hyung wanting to play and be taken care of. It’s his way to deal with stuff.”

Jinyoung snorted.

“Whatever, Daehwi. I still think it’s creepy, and I still don’t want to be included in this.”

Daehwi sighed and shook his head. Jisung bit his lip. This wasn’t good. They would have to tell Daniel about this, and it was already hard enough for him to accept himself as it was. If he knew what Jinyoung thought about this, how would he react?

“I think you should think a bit about this. If you change your mind, we’ll be here.”

And saying that he left. He wanted to see Daniel.

He was walking to his room, where Seongwoo probably had taken Daniel to, when Daehwi and Jaehwan joined him.

“So, he goes into little space often?”

Jisung smiled at Jaehwan’s question. At least two of them had reacted well.

“You could say that. This past week he didn’t go into little space, because we didn’t have time. But usually it happens three times a week? It’s around that.”

Jaehwan nodded.

“I was really confused when I saw Niel crying. I tried to talk to him, but instead of answering he just wrapped his arms around me and didn’t let go. I couldn’t just leave him like that, so I picked him up, but god, he’s heavy.”

Jisung and Daehwi laughed.

“Yeah, he does that. The other day he decided he’d stay on Woojinie’s lap the whole day. I thought Woojinie would die.”

Jaehwan laughed and Jisung smiled remembering the scene. Daniel had refused to let go of Woojin for the whole day. He’d insisted the younger carried him everywhere they went, and he even ate on the boy’s lap during lunch, asking Woojin to feed him. It had been tiring for Woojin, but by the end of the day, the younger had a wide and bright smile on his face.

“Is it weird that I feel so proud that he chose to cling to me the whole day?”

He had asked Jisung. The older had laughed and shook his head.

“Nah, I would be proud too.”

Had been his answer.

 

They entered the room and found Daniel lying on the floor, giggling as Seongwoo tickled him. Jisung smiled. It was one of Daniel’s favourite things, being tickled, and they all used that on their favour. Minhyun had even used that knowledge when Daniel was in his adult headspace, and honestly, none of them were really surprised when it worked.

“Hey, you two.”

Greeted Jisung, getting the two boy’s attention. Seongwoo’s expression immediately became questioning, and Jisung groaned internally at the memory that he’d have to explain everything to him, then to Minhyun, and then to Daniel once he was out of headspace.

“Hey. Say hi, Niel.”

Prompted Seongwoo. Daniel had shyly hid behind Seongwoo and was peeking at Jaehwan and Daehwi. He shook his head. Daehwi kneeled down.

“Hey, Niel. We were playing earlier, remember? We saved a city together!” This seemed to catch Daniel’s interest. The boy bit his lip and nodded. “We were about to save another city. Shouldn’t we hurry with that?”

Daniel’s grip on Seongwoo’s shirt tightened and he looked at the older. Seongwoo chuckled.

“Go on, Niel. Daehwi will be sad if he has to play alone.”

Daniel made a whimpering sound on the back of his throat and shook his head.

“Jiji help we save the city?”

Offered the boy, lifting up his toy puppy. Daehwi smiled widely.

“That’s perfect! C’mon, let’s go!”

Daniel squealed and soon him and Daehwi were in their own world, playing with Daniel’s stuffed animals and laughing happily. Jaehwan joined them after he noticed Daehwi had managed to get Daniel out of his shell, and Jisung looked at Seongwoo. He sighed and gestured for the older to follow him.

They didn’t go far. Neither of them liked the idea of leaving Daniel alone with Daehwi and Jaehwan, no matter how much they trusted the two boys.

“So, what happened?”

Asked Seongwoo. Jisung shook his head.

“Niel came to me earlier, and he was acting little and I didn’t even notice. He tried to get my attention, but I was half asleep and didn’t give it to him, so he went away. I don’t know exactly what happened before I noticed what had happened, but when I found Niel, he was with Daehwi and Jinyoung on their room. Jinyoung… didn’t react well. We had a bit of a fight, and Niel ran away, and ended up finding Jaehwan.”

Seongwoo’s expression was an image of what Jisung was feeling.

“Shit, hyung.”

Jisung shrugged.

“That’s when you took Niel away. Then I explained everything to the boys. Daehwi and Jaehwan, as you saw, are pretty ok with it. They said they want to be involved, if Niel wants them to be. Jinyoung said it’s creepy and that he won’t tell anyone, but doesn’t want us to do tis around him.”

Seongwoo’s eyebrow had reached his hairline.

“That little shit, I’ll…”

Jisung interrupted Seongwoo’s probable threat.

“Hey, calm down. There’s nothing we can do. Let him have his time, maybe he’ll come around.”

Seongwoo sighed, but nodded. He knew Jisung was right, and he knew that no matter how much they wanted everyone to accept Daniel, ageplay wasn’t the easiest thing for people to understand.

“I’m just worried about how this’ll affect Niel, hyung.”

Jisung nodded.

“I know. I’m worried too. But the only thing we can do now is wait and remind Niel that we’re here for him, no matter what.”  
Seongwoo sighed and nodded.

“Ok, now can we go? I want to spoil that boy while I can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think?


	9. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I'm not too sure about this chapter? But then again, I'm always scared when I post a new chapter

After a while playing, with Daniel, Jisung had to leave. Minhyun had called him to work on a track, and the older had no choice but to go. Daehwi was next, saying he’d promised himself he would organize his computer files. This left Jaehwan and Seongwoo alone with Daniel. To the older’s surprise, though, Jaehwan was good at keeping Daniel entertained, and soon Seongwoo noticed he wasn’t needed at the moment. He shrugged to himself. At least he could rest and read his book for a while.

Seongwoo noticed Daniel was feeling sleepy when he turned to check on him, like he’d been doing from ten to ten minutes, and spotted the boy on Jaehwan’s lap, leaning against the older’s chest and sucking on his thumb. He wasn’t paying an ounce of attention to Jaehwan, who was playing with two of the toy cars Woojin had gotten for Daniel a few days earlier. Seongwoo laughed.

“Jae. He’s barely awake.”

Jaehwan turned to Seongwoo at the sound of his name, then looked at Daniel. A fond smile took his face.

“He’s sucking on his thumb, hyung.”

Seongwoo laughed, then got up to find Daniel’s pacifier.

“Yeah, he does that. Here. So he doesn’t hurt his thumb.”

Jaehwan stared at the pacifier Seongwoo was handing him. He was still trying to get used to this side of Daniel.

“He actually uses it, hyung? For real?”

Seongwoo nodded, expression a bit defensive. He was a little protective of Daniel, ok? Leave him be.

“Yeah, is that a problem?”

Jaehwan moved to look at him, eyes wide.

“No, that’s not it! I’m just surprised.”

And as if to prove his words, he took the pacifier, gently moving Daniel’s thumb from his mouth. Daniel whined and Jaehwan chuckled.

“Sorry, baby. Here, take this.”

Daniel sighed contentedly as the pacifier was put in his mouth and fully closed his eyes, snuggling closer to Jaehwan, nuzzling the older’s chest. Jaehwan went rigid, not wanting to disturb the boy, and Seongwoo chuckled.

“Relax. Just hug him, he’ll get more comfortable. When he’s really asleep you can get up and put him to bed.”

Jaehwan nodded and stiffly hugged the boy, slowly getting used to holding him.

“He’s adorable.”

His voice was an octave higher than usual, and Seongwoo laughed.

“He is. Now shut it. The sooner he sleeps, the less your legs will hurt when you get up.”

 

Daniel was woken up by someone shaking him. He sighed contentedly, feeling relaxed, then stretched a bit. The person had stopped shaking him, but Daniel knew that whoever it was, was still there. He opened his eyes. Seongwoo was smiling down at him. He attempted to smile back, but felt something on his mouth. Immediately he felt his cheeks reddening.

He turned to his side, hiding his face from Seongwoo and quickly taking the pacifier from his mouth, because no matter how comforting it was, he couldn’t very well use it when not in headspace.

“Oh, I see someone isn’t feeling little anymore.” Daniel sat up, biting him bottom lip. Seongwoo sighed and gently ran his thumb on the younger’s lip, making Daniel blush and let go. 

“Stop biting on your lip, Niel. Maybe you should keep the pacifier at all times.”

Daniel blushed and glared. Seongwoo just smiled innocently.

“D-did I… you guys were tired, hyung. I’m sorry.”

Seongwoo shook his head, offering a hand and helping Daniel stand up.

“Don’t apologize. I’ve told you already that we don’t mind taking care of you.” Daniel wasn’t too convinced, but shrugged. Then Seongwoo sighed. “But… there’s something we should probably tell you.”

Immediately, Daniel tensed. 

“Did something happen, hyung?”

Seongwoo shrugged, not sure how to answer that.

“Let’s go to Jisung hyung and Minhyun. They’ll want to be here for that.”

By his side, Daniel was more rigid than a wooden plank, and Seongwoo knew they’d soon have a problem at hand.

 

Jisung and Minhyun were at the kitchen discussing their schedule when Seongwoo and Daniel entered. Immediately, both boys put their things aside, making space for the other two. Seongwoo sat down, but Daniel froze next to the table.

“H-hyungs, you’re scaring me.”

Minhyun’s eyes softened and he got up, taking Daniel by the hand.

“Hey, don’t worry. It’s not a big deal. Just something we thought you should know. C’mon, sit here.”

Daniel was still uneasy, but did as he was told.

“So, what do you remember from the time you spent in little space today?”

Daniel frowned. If he thought about it, he could remember most of what he’d done in little space, although things were a bit blurry. Usually, though, he didn’t think about it, and since Seongwoo had immediately taken him to talk with the others after he woke up, he hadn’t had the chance to think about it. So he stopped for a second, trying to recall everything.  
It only took a few seconds for Daniel’s eyes to widen, his cheeks reddening quickly.

“D-Daehwi… fuck, why the fuck…?”

By his side, Jisung held his hand, squeezing it.

“It was an accident. You went into little space without any of us noticing, and you found Daehwi. He’s ok with it. After we’re done here, you can go talk to him.”

Daniel shook his head. As if it wasn’t embarrassing enough having Woojin know. He did feel a bit relieved that the boy had accepted him. Not that he was surprised. Daehwi was an open-minded kid, but still, you never know. But he still felt embarrassed, slowly remembering how Daehwi had played with him with Jinyoung’s… Daniel felt himself pale and he immediately felt sick.

“No…”

He mumbled. He wasn’t going to cry. He refused to cry. And why was it so hard to breathe? Where had all the oxygen gone all of a sudden? A hand on his made him shiver and blink, trying to focus on the boys in front of him.

“…el. Niel. Hey. C’mon, breathe. Slowly, in and out.”

Was that Jisung? It sounded like Jisung. If it was Jisung, he should probably obey. Slowly, he started copying the other boy’s breathing, until his eyes started focusing again. He blinked. Seongwoo and Minhyun were staring at him with worried expressions.

“Niel…”

Started Seongwoo, but Daniel interrupted him.

“Jinyoung.”

The other boys sighed and looked at each other. Minhyun was the one who spoke first.

“Yes. Jaehwan and Jinyoung know, too. Jaehwan is ok with it. He was the one who put you to sleep, actually.”

Daniel knew what Minhyun was trying to do, but his mind was replaying over and over again the words Jinyoung had said, or what he remembered of it.

“H-he hates me.”

To his horror, Daniel felt his eyes watering. He angrily wiped them, before the tears could fall, but it was useless, because they just kept coming. He tried to wipe them before they fell, until a hand stopped him.

“Niel, hey, no. You’re hurting yourself, stop.” And Jisung was right. Indeed, his cheeks were stinging a bit, but he didn’t really care. “Jinyoung doesn’t hate you. He was just surprised. Give him time to process it.”

Daniel shook his head.

“No. No, he doesn’t need time. H-he’s right, hyung. This isn’t normal, I’m not normal. I’m a freak, I-I…”

Jisung grabbed Daniel’s face, forcing the younger to look at him.

“Hey. Stop it. Don’t you dare talk about yourself like that.” Daniel tried to pull his face away, embarrassed to look on his hyung’s eyes, but Jisung didn’t let him. “Niel, there’s nothing wrong with being like this. C’mon, you have me, Daehwi, Minhyun, Seongwoo, Jaehwan and Woojin by your side. Why are you choosing to believe the only person, among six people, who thinks this is a problem?”

Daniel finally managed to pry his face from the older’s hand and looked down.

“Because Jinyoung is the only one who’s right, hyung.”

Jisung sighed and looked at Minhyun. The younger nodded.

“Niel. Jinyoung isn’t right. He was just confused, and it was all too sudden. Once it actually sinks in, he’ll come around. This is so good for you, Niel, you relax so much when we do this. And you’re not hurting anyone, so why is it wrong?”

Daniel, admittedly, didn’t have an explanation. Still, his mind seemed keen on focusing on Jinyoung’s words. ‘He’s twenty-two years old, why is he playing at all?’. ‘What is wrong with all of you?’. Those words reached him in a way Jisung’s and Minhyun’s words just didn’t. And then there was a hand on his cheek, softly drying the tears there.

“Niel hyung. Can you look at me?”

Daniel looked up, startled. He hadn’t heard Woojin coming in.

“Woojinie?”

The younger boy smiled.

“Hey. The hyungs told me what happened.”

Daniel looked down again.

“If you’re here to tell me Jinyoung is wrong, don’t waste your time. He’s right, and I know it.”

Woojin shrugged.

“You can believe that, if you want. I don’t. I think there’s nothing wrong with ageplay or being little. But you can believe it.” Woojin sighed. “I know it’s hard, hyung. When you’re told again and again that something is wrong or weird, you end up believing it, even if you don’t understand exactly why it’s so weird. Even if for you it’s normal. I know it’s hard to stop thinking like that, and that even if you do stop thinking like that, if someone tells you that it’s weird you immediately go back to that mentality.” Daniel didn’t know when he’d stopped crying, but now his full attention was on Woojin. There was a sort of understanding on the boy’s voice that Daniel hadn’t heard on the others’. “It’s hard to be different, Niel. You’re gay. You’ve gone through this once. You know how it is. But even that is easier, compared to things that most people don’t even acknowledge as existing. I know. But just because it’s hard, doesn’t mean you’ve got to change. Being different isn’t bad. And you have us with you. You have us, and we’ll be with you no matter what. You’re not alone, hyung. So please, don’t… don’t try to hide this part of you. It’s not going away. Hiding will only make you unhappy and scared.”

The room was silent. Daniel was staring at Woojin with his mouth slightly open, and he could see the others were, too. Woojin’s cheeks were a bit red, and Daniel wanted to ask him what was bothering him that much, but he couldn’t speak. The youngest fidgeted, clearly nervous about the way his hyungs were staring at him and Jisung came back to his senses. He cleared his throat.

“That’s…” He shook his head. “Woojinie is right, Niel. I don’t… I don’t think I completely understand what it’s like for you two, but what matter the most is that we’re here for you no matter what.”

Daniel nodded, but he was still staring at Woojin. The younger boy clearly understood. He knew what Daniel was feeling, even if for a different reason. And… and maybe e was right.

“Niel.” The boy looked at Seongwoo. “Please, promise us you won’t let this get to you. Promise us you won’t try to avoid going into little space just because of Jinyoung. The last time you did that you crashed, remember? We don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Daniel swallowed around the lump on his throat.

“I…” He looked at Woojin. “I promise.”

The other four boys immediately smiled, clearly relieved.

“Thank you, Niel.”

Daniel managed a smile at the leader.

“Well. My job here is done. I’ll… I’ll just go, yeah.”

And saying that, Woojin left hurriedly. The four remaining boys looked at each other. Minhyun got up.

“I’ll go talk to him.”

 

Minhyun found Woojin in his room. He’d half-expected the boy to be in the living room with Jihoon, but Woojin had been spending less time with Jihoon lately, for some reason, so he wasn’t that surprised to find the boy alone.

“Hey.” He greeted, sitting next to Woojin. The boy nodded at him without looking up. “What you said to Daniel. That was really… I’m not sure what word to use, really. But it was good. Thank you.”

Woojin looked at the older.

“I couldn’t let Niel hyung think that he’s the wrong one here, hyung.”

Minhyun nodded.

“You did well. Now… all of that came from somewhere, Woojinie.” Woojin was bouncing his leg, making the bed shake slightly. “This has to do with what you told me when you found out about Niel right? About knowing what it’s like to be different?”

Woojin didn’t answer for a second. Then he shrugged, and then there was a tiny nod that Minhyun would have missed hadn’t he been paying close attention. He waited for the younger to talk, but when he didn’t, he spoke up.

“I’ll take it you still don’t want to talk about it, hum?”

Woojin sighed.

“It’s… it’s nothing serious, hyung.”

Minhyun hummed.

“You know, what you said to Niel... it applies to you, too. It’s ok to be different, Woojinie. You have us, and we’ll always be with you, ok?”

Woojin nodded.

“I know, hyung. I’m just… I don’t think I’m ready to talk about it.”

Minhyun nodded. He could understand that.

“My offer from last time still stands. You can talk to me anytime you want. Ok?”

Woojin smiled.

“Ok. Thank you, hyung.”

Minhyun got up and ruffled the boy’s hair.

“It’s nothing, Woojinie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you guys think?


	10. A Little Day

Despite having promised the others he wouldn’t try to avoid his little space, it was easier said than done. Daniel wasn’t purposefully avoiding it. Actually, on the week following Jinyoung and the others finding out, Daniel had felt himself near the edge twice. But for some reason, he just couldn’t go over it. He didn’t try to stay away, he really didn’t, but whenever he felt like he was almost there, relaxation so, so close, something in his mind blocked and he took several steps back.

It was frustrating. He’d never say it out loud, but he really wanted to feel little. He was stressed and tired and he wanted to relax, but he… he couldn’t, no matter how much he tried. He’d even tried to purposefully trigger himself, sleeping with his stuffies and sucking on his thumb when no one was around, but even if those things did make him relax a tiny bit, he still couldn’t get what he wanted.

He was about to cry. It was their free day, and he’d woken up early, feeling very close to falling into little space. He’d immediately closed his eyes again, snuggling closer to his stuffed animals, then had put his thumb on his mouth, but ten minutes later the feeling had gone away, leaving behind only frustrated tears. He sighed and got up. There was no point in lying in bed when he was already awake. He didn’t want to wake the others up.

Slowly, he made his way out of the room. He was the first one up, as expected. He grabbed himself something to eat and made his way to the couch to watch TV. It didn’t take too long until someone else woke up. Jinyoung. He passed Daniel, who was watching cartoons in the living room, and eyed the TV, before eyeing the older. Daniel immediately blushed and changed channels.

“Morning, Jinyoung.”

Mumbled the older. Jinyoung greeted him back and headed to the kitchen. Daniel sighed. They’d never been too close, but ever since the accident, Jinyoung had been keeping his distance. It was annoying, and, Daniel suspected, part of the reason why he couldn’t get into little space. He hated it. He wanted things to be good between them again, and he wanted to be comfortable with his little side. Apparently, though, that was too much to ask for.

Daniel sighed, feeling all of the stress he’d accumulated during the week bubbling inside of him. He needed to focus on one problem at a time, and right now his resistance to his little headspace was more pressing. He had an idea that had been swimming in his head for a while. He just needed to pluck the courage to do it.

 

Seongwoo was worried about Daniel.

Actually, all of the boys who knew about him being a little were worried. Daniel had promised them he wouldn’t avoid going into little space, but hadn’t been little in a week, which to him was quite a lot. But Seongwoo had caught, more than once, Daniel with his thumb in his mouth or sleeping with his stuffies, without being little, and he could tell something was wrong. So he was worried.

He wanted to help the younger, but he didn’t want to push Daniel away. And considering how embarrassed the boy would be if he knew Seongwoo had seen him with his little stuff when in his adult headspace, he didn’t think telling the boy about it was the best option. He had to think of something better.

Turns out, though, he didn’t have to think much.

It was their break day, after a harsh week of promotions and shootings, and Daniel had woken up way too early. Seongwoo had woken up to, but he’d been too sleepy to follow the younger, although he could tell there was something bothering the boy. He lazed around in bed for a few hours, just rolling around and trying to fall asleep again. At some point, Jisung woke up and left, and so Seongwoo was alone, the only one still in bed. He sighed and looked at the time. 11am. Why were the others up so early on a break day? Groaning, he sat up.

He’d just gotten down from his bed when the door to the room opened. Seongwoo turned and spotted Daniel peeking inside.

“Morning, Niel.”

He greeted. For some reason, Daniel blushed.

“Morning, hyung.”

They were silent for a while, just staring at each other. Then Daniel entered the room and closed the door, before staring at Seongwoo again. The older raised an eyebrow.

“Do you… need something?” Daniel quickly shook his head. Then he stopped and nodded. “Ok. What do you need?”

Daniel sighed, seeming frustrated. Then he walked up to his wardrobe and searched for something. He came out a while later and handed something to Seongwoo. The older frowned, then raised his eyebrow. He looked at Daniel. The boy was standing in front of him, red from head to toes. In Seongwoo’s hand lay Daniel’s pacifier.

“Oh… you need help, baby? You’ve been having a hard time feeling little?”

Daniel whined, but nodded. Seongwoo smiled. This was a big step.

“Please, hyung.”

Seongwoo’s heart stuttered at the boy’s cuteness.

“Ok, baby boy. Hyung needs to eat, but what about I call Hwi and your papa to play with you?”

Daniel could feel himself right at the edge between his adult headspace and his little side. He just needed a little push.

“Uhm.”

He hummed as an answer, hoping Seongwoo would understand. The boy chuckled.

“Someone seems to be having trouble with words today, hum? Come here, baby, I’ll put you in some better clothes and call papa and Hwi.”

Daniel still wasn’t there, but let Seongwoo pull him towards the drawer. The older chose some shorts and Daniel’s baby apeach hoodie. It was a fan gift; apparently, the fan had made it herself. It was a white hoodie with baby apeach, from Kakao friends, sewed onto it, and a size too big for Daniel, leaving him with sweater paws. Daniel had loved the hoodie, but he usually couldn’t use it, because it always put him into little space.

Seongwoo smiled as he saw Daniel’s eyes shining as he eyed the hoodie. The younger boy made to take off his shirt, but Seongwoo stopped him.

“No, baby, careful. You’re too little to do that, let hyung help you, ok?”

Daniel blushed and bit his lip, but let Seongwoo help him take off his shirt. His pants followed, and then Seongwoo dressed him in the pink shorts and the hoodie. All through the process, Daniel didn’t stop chewing on his lip. Seongwoo ‘tsc’ed at him.

“Aish, baby. You’re hurting your pretty lips. Come on, open up.” Daniel did as he was told and Seongwoo put the pacifier in his mouth. Seongwoo expected Daniel to try to spit the pacifier, but as soon as the boy closed his lips around it he whined and began sucking. He looked up at the older and lifted his arms, clearly asking to be picked up. Seongwoo internally cheered. “Hey, baby. Hyung missed you. Now come on. Woo, Jiji and Minmin told me they missed you, too. Why don’t you play with them while hyung goes looking for papa and Hwi?”

Daniel giggled as Seongwoo picked him up and put him on his bed. He immediately reached for his stuffies, picking all three up and putting in his lap.

“’yung pway wif Niel?”

He asked, and Seongwoo almost squealed. He’d missed his little boy.

“Soon, baby. For now, papa and Hwi will play with you. Then hyung will come back, ok?”

Daniel pouted and crossed his arms.

“But Niel wan’ to pway wif ‘yung now.”

Seongwoo chuckled.

“Behave, baby. Hyung will be back before you know it, ok? Now you better give attention to Jiji, Minmin and Woo, or they’ll ne upset.”

This made Daniel look down, eyes wide, and Seongwoo chuckled, leaving the room.

Once outside, he sighed and smiled. This was a good sign. This was a step forward. He had to tell the others.

 

Minhyun wanted to run into the room as soon as Seongwoo told him about Daniel being in little space. But he controlled himself, knowing that bursting through the door would only scare Daniel. So he calmly walked to the room, a giggling Daehwi following him. He ignored the look Jinyoung sent them as they passed him, and soon they were by the door.

“Hurry up, hyung, I want to play with him!”

Minhyun laughed at the younger boy and opened the door.

Daniel was sitting on the floor, playing with his plushies, and as soon as the other two entered he looked up. In a second a smile lit up his face, behind his pacifier.

“Papa! Hwihwi!”

Minhyun couldn’t contain his smiled anymore. He kneeled down and opened his arms. Maybe that wasn’t such a smart move, because Daniel ran to him and threw himself at the older, making Minhyun groan. Niel was a little, but he definitely wasn’t little. He let out an ‘oof’ as Daehwi laughed.

“Hey, baby” He greeted, a bit breathless. Daniel nuzzled his neck. “We came to play with you.”

This made Daniel perk up, and he got up from Minhyun. He spotted Daehwi and smiled, taking the boy’s hand and dragging the younger to sit where he’d been sitting.

“We awe in school. Niel is teachew and Jiji and Minmin and Woo awe students.”

Minhyun and Daehwi looked at the scene and noticed that yes, the three stuffed animals had little pieces of paper in front of them, scribbled with some numbers and lines that were probably supposed to represent words.

“Oh, that’s very nice, Niel. Can Hwihwi and papa play?”

Daniel nodded, enthusiastically, then crawled to his bed, taking a piece of paper from a little notebook. He cut it in smaller pieces as well as he could, then gave a few pieces to each boy. Then he kneeled in front of them.

“Ok, Niel wiw stawt the cwass now! Siwence evewyone!”

Minhyun bit on his lip not to laugh at the serious face Daniel put on and started writing down the exercises.

 

Seongwoo raised an eyebrow as he walked into the room. Daniel was walking on his knees from one side to the other, arms crossed, a pencil on his hands. Meanwhile, his three stuffed animals were sitting in front of pieces of paper and Minhyun and Daehwi were… solving math problems?

He was trying to understand what he’d missed when Daniel gasped.

“Jiji! You’we cheatin’! Mean Jiji! Timeout!”

Seongwoo held his breath as Daniel turned the stuffed animal to face the wall and wrote a big 0 on his piece of paper. He glanced at Minhyun, who was laughing silently, then at Daehwi, who was shaking from laughter, but still focused on his problems.

“Hey, what are you guys doing?”

Daniel looked up, startled, then his cheeks coloured red. He smiled.

“We pwayin’ school.”

He explained, somewhat shy. Seongwoo hummed.

“I see. Do you need another student?”

Daniel couldn’t be happier.

 

Their little school play didn’t last long. Soon, Daniel grew bored and decided he wanted to play with his play-doh. Seongwoo opened everything and left it on the floor, wathing amusedly as Daniel proceeded to get Daehwi’s help in making a purple dog. He himself played around a little, making little animals with the play-doh while Minhyun simply watched.  
Daniel’s and Daehwi’s dog… was a tragedy. It’s legs were too thin and had different sizes and shapes. It’s nose was too big and the eyes too small, and, overall, it wasn’t even recognizable as a dog. But as Daniel presented it, Seongwoo made a show of being impressed.

“It’s so beautiful, Niel! Good job, baby!”

The praise from Seongwoo made the little blush and hide his face, making the others in the room laugh. Seongwoo was about to say something else when there was a growl. Daniel looked up, shyly.

“Niel hungwy…”

He mumbled, pouting behind his pacifier. Seongwoo wanted to squish him.

“Ok, papa and I can go make some food. You can stay with Hwihwi.”

Daniel nodded and made his way to Daehwi, plopping himself on the smaller boy’s lap. Daehwi grimaced, probably being crushed under Daniel, but didn’t complain. His arms circled the little and he tickled Daniel slightly, making the boy giggle and try to become smaller on the boy’s lap.

Seongwoo smiled, satisfied with how things were, and left the room, followed by Minhyun.

 

Lunch was… a challenge.

Minhyun and Seongwoo prepared ramen – not spicy, since it was for Daniel – and chicken pieces, that Daniel could eat with his fingers. On the bright side, they’d bought a bib for him, so his hoodie remained clean. But Daniel seemed to think that if he was eating the chicken with his hands, he should also eat the ramen with his hands. And boy, it was a mess.

By the end, there was ramen on Daniel’s hair, on his lap, on his cheek, everywhere. The soup from the ramen was half on Daniel’s stomach, and half on his hands and arms. Seongwoo stared at the scene, before quickly getting up.

“I’m washing the dishes!”

Minhyun glared as Seongwoo left smiling, then turned to Daehwi, before groaning as he noticed there was no escape. He would be the one to shower Daniel.

Sighing, he helped the giggling little get up. Daehwi was kind enough to make sure they could go to the bathroom without being caught, but then he disappeared, simply wishing Minhyun good luck.

The older boy looked at Daniel. The little was silently humming something under his breath, playing with a plastic dinosaur that Minhyun had allowed him to take into the bathroom. He was still a mess, but Minhyun couldn’t help but to smile.

“Hey, Niel, you need to take a bath, now. Can you lift your arms for papa?”

Daniel immediately put his dinosaur down and lifted his arms, and soon he was undressed and the tub was full. Minhyun helped him in and started cleaning the little.

 

Daniel was more behaved than Minhyun had expected. He stayed mostly quiet, playing with his dinosaur and occasionally roaring to Minhyun, who just acted surprised and then roared back. It was almost relaxing, washing the boy and playing with him, and he made a mental note to tell Seongwoo that.

Once he was finished, he wrapped Daniel in a towel and peeked out of the bathroom. Like before, there was no one around, and it was easy to get the little to his room.

He noticed Daniel was sleepy when the boy put his thumb in his mouth, his other hand just holding his dinosaur, without playing with it. He smiled fondly.

“Niel-ah, can you lift your arms again?”

The little obeyed, sleepily, and Minhyun dressed him in his Spiderman pyjamas. They needed more pyjamas for his little space.

He grabbed the boy’s pacifier and gave it to him, helping the boy to his bed. He sat the little down and quickly brushed his hair, drying it with the towel as much as he could. Then he took the boy’s stuffed toys and offered them to him. Daniel grabbed all three and hugged them.

Minhyun laughed, his heart melting, and he helped Daniel under the covers.

“Sleep well, baby.”

He said, kissing Daniel’s forehead. Daniel hummed something back and snuggled with his stuffed toys, quickly falling asleep.


	11. An Accident

It became easier, after that. Daniel and Jinyoung were still weird around each other, and no matter how many times Daehwi tried to talk to the older about it, Jinyoung refused to even listen.

But Daniel kept his promise and even if he still felt self-conscious about it, he didn’t hold himself back to falling into little space.

 

On the day the rest of the group found out, though, ironically, Daniel wasn’t even feeling little. At least when the day started.

It was a different day, because they had a concert in the night. This meant just a bit of practice in the morning, then hairdresser. After that, they were taken to have lunch, then to the venue, for sound and position check. It was rushed, but it wasn’t packed.

Daniel was feeling completely fine. Ever since he’d started falling into little space regularly, he hadn’t felt too stressed. It was still hard to be an idol, and incredibly tiring, but now he had a let out for his stress, and that helped a lot. So he was feeling fine, as the makeup artist did his makeup and then as he dressed himself.

There was the normal rush of adrenaline as they were about to go on stage, the usual nervousness. But it was a good kind of nervousness, the kind that made Daniel smile brightly at whoever was by his side. And then they were on stage.

Now, Daniel had performed concerts before. All of them had, obviously. They had all teased Seongwoo, once, about having low stamina, and voiced their worry about him not being able to complete a full concert. But it was all a joke. All of them knew their limits, what they should and shouldn’t do.

Which is why Daniel was internally hitting himself for not using the bathroom on the break halfway through the show. To be fair, there hadn’t been time. It was a choice, either he used the bathroom and they entered the stage with a five-minute delay or he held it and got back on the right time. He chose the latter. Two songs later he was beginning to notice it hadn’t been a good choice.

“Hey, are you ok?”

Mumbled Seongwoo, as they began their ment. Daniel just nodded, attempting to smile. He wasn’t. His bladder was beginning to hurt, and he just wanted to run out of the stage and find a bathroom.

He said what he was supposed to say, stumbling halfway through and then laughing it off, making everyone in the audience laugh too.

They continued the concert, and each minute felt like an eternity to Daniel. When the last song finally came, he would have cried right there, if it wasn’t for the fact that all of his concentration was in not wetting himself in front of thousands of people.

 

Minhyun noticed Daniel acting weird right after Seongwoo did. He didn’t question it, though, because there wasn’t a chance. Now, as they walked out of the stage – for real, this time – he noticed Daniel practically jumping out, waving with one hand while the other… grabbed his leg? He shook his head. Soon he could ask what was going on.

Except that as everyone laughed and headed to the changing room, Daniel just stopped. He simply froze, as everyone passed him by, and the only person who noticed, besides Minhyun, was Guanlin. The maknae stopped next to Daniel, and Minhyun rushed forward, to listen to them.

“What is hurting, hyung?”

Minhyun’s eyes widened in alarm. Daniel was hurt?

“I-I can’t move. I won’t make it.”

He was practically doubled over. And then Minhyun understood. His heart broke a little as he noticed the tears in Daniel’s eyes.

“Niel.” He called. The boy looked at him, lower lip trembling. “Niel, you’re hurting yourself. Just let go, it’s only us.”

Daniel shook his head, then whimpered, and Minhyun noticed a little wet spot on his pants.

“Hyung? What’s…?”

Tried to ask Guanlin, but he was interrupted by Daniel’s sob, and then Daniel was hiding his face on Minhyun’s chest. The older hugged him as he could as Guanlin stared, mouth hanging open.

“Shh, it’s ok, Niel. There, doesn’t that feel better?”

Cooed Minhyun.

“Did he..?”

Stared Guanlin, but Minhyun’s glare shut him up.

“S-sowy, papa.”

Cried Daniel. ‘Fuck’, thought Minhyun. Guanlin was just watching, completely confused.

“Guanlinie, can you do me a favour? I need you to ask Jisung to come here and bring Daniel’s clothes. Try not to call too much attention, ok?”

To his credit, Guanlin simply nodded and left. Minhyun was sure someone else wouldn’t just leave like that if they’d just seen their band mate wet himself and call another band mate ‘papa’. Jinyoung, for sure, wouldn’t. Minhyun turned his attention to Daniel.

"Hey, it's ok, baby. It was an accident. It happens."

Daniel shook his head.

"N-niel is a big boy."

Minhyun kissed the little's forehead.

"Papa known that, Niel. But even big boys have accidents some times. Don't worry about it."

Daniel sniffed, but ended up nodding.

 

When Jisung and Guanlin arrived, Daniel had stopped crying and was leaning against Minhyun, thumb on his mouth.

“Hey, baby.”

Greeted Jisung, softly. Daniel sniffed and made grabby hands.

“Daddy.”

He whined. Minhyun raised an eyebrow, and he could see the smile threatening to take Jisung’s face, but neither of them said anything.

“Hey, love. Can you let daddy get you out of those wet clothes?”

Daniel nodded and let Jisung pull him closer. Minhyun looked at Guanlin. He sighed.

 

“So, you guys take care of him when he acts like that.”

Minhyun nodded. Guanlin sounded genuinely interested, and Minhyun noticed how nervous he’d been about the maknae rejecting Daniel.

“Yeah, it’s something like that.”

Guanlin smiled.

“That’s nice. And, uhn… does that happen often?”

Minhyun shook his head.

“He’s never wet himself before, that we know of. Actually, he wasn’t in little space when that happened. But the embarrassment and fear of us judging him probably pushed him into little space.”

Guanlin nodded, understanding.

“That sounds nice, hyung. Do… can I…?”

Minhyun raised an eyebrow as he noticed Guanlin’s face was pink. He laughed.

“You can help us take care of him, or just play with him, if you want.”

Guanlin’s smile widened.

“I’d like that.”

Jisung’s voice interrupted them.

“Guys, let’s go?”

Minhyun looked over and spotted Daniel on Jisung’s arms, head lying on the older’s shoulder and thumb on his mouth. His wet clothes were on Jisung’s hand.

“But what about…?”

Jisung shook his head, not letting Minhyun finish.

“He won’t let go. And soon the others will come looking for us. We have no choice.”

Minhyun sighed. This would be nice.

 

At first, as they entered, no one noticed or said anything. Then Minhyun noticed Jinyoung tensing and glaring. However, it was Sungwoon who commented first.

“Is Daniel sucking on his thumb?”

Minhyun bit his lip. All eyes were on Daniel, now, and Minhyun was so glad the boy seemed to have fallen asleep. And then came Jihoon’s soft voice.

“N-Niel hyung… is a little?”


	12. Chapter 12

“N-Niel hyung… is a little?”

Everyone turned to Jihoon, surprised.

“You… you know what that is?”

Asked Jisung. He raised an eyebrow as Jihoon’s cheeks reddened.

“I-I… it’s not…”

He was saved from explaining by Sungwoon.

“Wait, he’s a what? What is going on?”

Unfortunately, Jinyoung was the one who answered.

“It’s a creepy thing they have going on. Daniel hyung acts like a baby and hyungs take care of him. It’s really weird.”

Minhyun glared at the boy. Jinyoung shrugged at him. Sungwoon was frowning.

“What? How…?”

“Shut up.”

Everyone turned to Jihoon, who had spoken. Jinyoung’s eyes widened.

“Are… you talking to me?”

He asked. Jihoon’s hands were balled into fists.

“Yes, I’m talking to you. You shouldn’t talk like that just because it’s something you don’t understand. Actually, have you even tried to understand it? This is something that is part of Niel hyung, and it probably helps him a lot to be able to accept it and use it in his favour. So if hyungs want to help him and see him happy, they can! You’re being an ass, judging something without even taking the time to really understand it, and that’s… that’s just stupid!”

Everyone was silent, and Jinyoung’s cheeks were red. 

“I-I…”

He didn’t finish. Jihoon had crossed his arms, and his eyes looked teary.

“You’re an ass.”

He said, and left the room, slamming the door. After a second, Woojin ran after him, and Minhyun ran after the two boys.

 

Sungwoon was worried, but he was having fun. After the whole mess with Jihoon, Jinyoung had left, too, without saying anything. That left Seongwoo, Daehwi, Jisung, Sungwoon, Guanlin and Jaehwan alone in the dressing room with Daniel. And then the little whined and opened his eyes, looking around.

“Daddy? Wha’ ‘appened?”

He asked. Seongwoo’s mouth fell almost to the ground and Jisung smirked at him.

“Hey, baby. Nothing happened, don’t worry about it. Here, you’ve met Guanlinie, now say hi to Sungwoon.”

The little spotted Sungwoon and waved shyly. The older boy stared in awe as Daniel hid his face, blushing.

“He’s… he’s so cute.”

Jisung laughed at the boy’s surprise.

“Yes, he is. Get used to it.

Daniel whined.

“Daddy, wanna pway.”

Jisung put the boy down.

“Go play with Hwihwi, Niel. Daddy has to go find your papa.”

Daniel happily accepted, going to where Daehwi was waiting for him, arms open.

 

“Jihoon! Jihoon, wait! Jihoon!”

Jihoon stopped, noticing it was Woojin’s voice. He looked back, spotting his friend and Minhyun running to him.

“Dude, did you have to run away like that?”

Jihoon looked down, biting on his lip.

“Sorry. I just… I was so pissed at Jinyoung, and…”

Woojin frowned. Minhyun decided to just quietly watch.

“You got really pissed. Why were you so pissed? Even Jisung hyung didn’t react like that, and he protects Niel hyung as if he’s actually given birth to him.”

Minhyun and Jihoon shuddered at the mental image. Jihoon’s cheeks reddened and Minhyun started to get and idea of what might be wrong. He smiled to himself.

“I… I just didn’t… I don’t think it’s fair. People get away with liking the weirdest stuff, but if you even mention that you maybe like being treated like a kid, once in a while, people freak out, and call you a freak, and… and I hate it.”

Woojin stepped forward.

“Hey. C’mon, not everyone is like that. All of us accept Niel just as he is. Well, almost all of us.”

Jihoon nodded.

“I know. But listening to Jinyoung describing ageplay like that…”

At that, Woojin frowned.

“Ah, yeah, that. How do you even know about this?”

And that made Jihoon really blush.

“I, uhn… read on the internet?”

Woojin raised an eyebrow.

“Why does that sound like a question?”

Jihoon turned panicked eyes to Minhyun. The older took pity on him and spoke up for the first time.

“You know, Jihoonie, we accept Niel, and we would accept anyone else who was also a little. I can promise you that.”

Jihoon swallowed hard.

“You probably already have a-a hard time with Niel, hyung.”

Minhyun shook his head, knowing exactly what was hidden behind that affirmation.

“Niel is easy to deal with. And he would love having someone else to play with him.”

And then Woojin gasped.

“Oh. Oh, you’re a little.”

Jihoon blushed, but he seemed relieved at not having to say that out loud.

“I f-found out ages ago. But… but people are so stupid about it, and I couldn’t… I couldn’t risk losing you guys.”

Woojin hesitated for a second. Then he reached forward and hugged Jihoon. Minhyun watched as a smile took his face. Daniel would love to know about this.

“You won’t lose us, Jihoonie. We love you.”

Jihoon blushed, but hugged back. Minhyun smiled. He wanted to leave the two boys alone, but he knew they had to go back, so he interrupted their moment.

“Woojinie is right, Jihoon. We love you. And now Niel will have someone else to keep him company when he’s little. I’m sure he’ll love to hear about it.”

Jihoon blushed, but he was smiling.

“Yeah. Yeah, that’ll be nice.”

 

The trip back to the dorm was… weird. Daniel was happily playing with Daehwi and Sungwoon, but the rest of them were silent. Jinyoung was looking out of the window, seeming deep in thought. When they arrived, he was the first to get out. He rushed to his room and didn’t come out again.

“Sungwoon, can you carry Niel?”

Jisung asked. The boy nodded and picked Daniel up. He seemed to have already developed quite a relationship with the boy. He laughed as Daniel played with his hair and tickled the boy slightly, making Daniel giggle. It was adorable.

Jihoon bid them goodnight, quietly retreating to his room soon after they arrived, and Woojin followed suit. Jisung put Daniel’s wet clothes on the washing machine and soon everyone was ready to bed. The leader picked the little up.

“Niel, say goodnight to Woonie.”

He instructed. The little pouted, but waved.

“Nigh’ nigh’, Woonie.”

He mumbled sleepily. Sungwoon smiled and kissed Daniel’s forehead.

“Sleep well, pumpkin.”

Daniel giggled at the nickname and let Jisung take him to his room.

The leader out the little down, giving him his stuffies and his pacifier. Daniel smiled contentedly, then made grabby hands at Jisung. The leader chuckled and leaned down, kissing the tip of Daniel’s nose. The little smiled, satisfied.

“Goodnight, angel.”

“Goodnight, daddy.”

 

Daniel woke up slowly, a bit confused about where he was. Then he opened his eyes and noticed he was in his room and felt the pacifier on his mouth. He groaned, cheeks growing red, and took it out. At least there was no one else around. And then the events of the previous day came back to him and he buried his face on his pillow, mortified. Had he really… had he really wet himself? Without even being little? Fuck, that was embarrassing. What must the others be thinking? And Guanlin and Sungwoon knew now. And Jihoon. But Jihoon had defended him. And the others…

He groaned. He didn’t want to think about this. Actually, if he could just forget all of it he would.

“Niel?”

The boy jumped up, then blushed. It was Minhyun.

“Just leave me here to die, hyung.”

Minhyun chuckled.

“If this is about your accident yesterday, don’t worry. Only Guanlinie, Jisung and I know about it.”

Daniel pouted.

“And that’s three people too many.”

Minhyun rolled his eyes.

“Stop being dramatic, Niel. I told you, accidents happen. Even to adults. So don’t worry about it, ok? We won’t bring it up ever again.”

Daniel sighed.

“Fine.”

He mumbled. Minhyun smiled.

“Great. Now c’mon, someone wants to talk to you.”

 

Daniel hadn’t been expecting the someone to be Jinyoung. But the boy was standing there, looking down. Daniel waited.

“Hyung. I wanted to say I’m sorry. I was stupid and unfair, and I didn’t even stop to consider how I might be hurting you. I still think this whole thing is a bit weird, but… but I stopped to think about it and look into it, and I was wrong. It isn’t creepy or anything, it’s actually kind of… sweet. I can’t promise I’ll love it or participate in it, but if you let me… I’d like to give it a shot and help the others take care of you. Can you forgive me?”

Daniel thought of denying. Jinyoung had been an arsehole. But then he stopped to think how long he’d taken to accept this himself, and ended up nodding.

“It’s ok, Jinyoungie. I forgive you.”

Jinyoung smiled and, for the first time in quite sometime, hugged Daniel. The boy hugged back. Minhyun, watching the two boys, smiled. Things were starting to look better.

 

Or things seemed to be looking better, until Minhyun noticed Jihoon looking dejected, sitting alone on the couch, a few days later. He sighed and sat next to the boy.

“Hey, are you ok?”

Jihoon looked at him, a bit startled, then shrugged.

“I’m fine, hyung.”

Minhyun rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know why you guys don’t just tell me the truth right away.”

Jihoon blushed but gave Minhyun a small smiled.

“Sorry. I just don’t want to worry you, hyung. It’s nothing important.”

Minhyun shook his head. 

“If it wasn’t important you wouldn’t be like this.”

Jihoon sighed.

“Woojinie is avoiding me. I… I know what he said the other day, but now he’s avoiding me, and I can’t help thinking…”

Minhyun interrupted him.

“I doubt it’s because of that, Jihoonie. Woojin loves playing with Niel. Why would it be different with you?”

Jihoon shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

Minhyun hummed.

“Have you tried talking to him?” Jihoon shrugged again. Minhyun laughed. “Then maybe you should.”

Jihoon bit his lip.

“Maybe I will.”

Minhyun shook his head.

“I mean it, Jihoonie.” The boy looked at him. Then nodded, a small, shy nod. Minhyun smiled and ruffled his hair. “Good. Now put a smile on that face. I don’t like sad dongsaengs.”

Jihoon laughed and Minhyun smiled. Now he just had to find a certain Woojin.

 

Minhyun found Woojin on his room. He stopped in front of the boy. Woojin looked up at him, frowning.

“You’re avoiding Jihoon.”

He said. Woojin’s expression turned guilty and he sat up.

“I know.”

Minhyun nodded.

“He thinks it’s because he told us about being little.”

Woojin looked up, seemingly offended.

“I’m not avoiding him because of that. I’ve been avoiding him for a while, you guys just haven’t noticed.”

Minhyun sat down next to the boy. Yes, he had noticed. But he was waiting to see where that would go.

“Ok. Then tell him that. Now why have you been avoiding him? You two used to be attached at the hip.”

Woojin kicked his feet, looking down. They stayed in silence for a while.

“I have a crush on Jihoon.”

Woojin finally admitted. Minhyun internally cheered. They were getting somewhere. He squeezed the boy’s hand.

“It’s ok, Woojinie.”

He wanted to say more, but Woojin shook his head, interrupting him.

“No, it’s not. It’s not, hyung. It would… it would already be hard if it was just that, but I don’t… I’m not…”

Minhyun frowned. There was something Woojin wasn’t telling him.

“Woojinie…”

But the boy shook his head. Minhyun didn’t know exactly what to do. He had come looking for answers, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t be getting those.

“I told Niel that it’s hard, hyung, because it is. It’s so, so hard, and… I know there are other people like me out there, but it feels like I’m alone, hyung. I… I don’t want to be like this, hyung.”

Minhyun pulled the boy into a hug. If this was just Woojin scared of liking a boy, he’d know what to do. He’d gone through it himself, he knew what to say. But in this situation, he didn’t know what was wrong. So he just hugged Woojin.

“It’s going to be ok. I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you thiiiink?


	13. Chapter 13

Daniel wasn’t feeling well. He’d woken up with his head hurting and his stomach was revolting against him, and he felt like any slightly fast movement would make him throw up. He didn’t know what had happened. He’d been completely fine the day before, and then he’d woken up like this.

Groaning, he got up. Then he waited for a while, looking up, to avoid emptying the contents of his stomach right there, in the middle of the room. It was two in the morning, and he didn’t know what to do. He wanted to wake Jisung or Minhyun up to take care of him, but the idea made him too embarrassed. He wasn’t a little kid, he could handle this on his own.

So he tried to make his way out of the room. If he could get to the bathroom he would find their medicine stock, and then he’d feel better in no time. Except he didn’t get to the bathroom. He didn’t even get to the middle of the room, before his stomach churned one last time and he was throwing up.

He heard a faint ‘what the… shit!’ coming from behind him, but he was a bit busy at the moment. And then there was a hand on the small of his back and someone caressing his hair. The light was turned on, making him cringe but feel a bit relieved. He hadn’t noticed how scared he was feeling in the complete dark.

“Niel?”

It was Jisung. Daniel had stopped throwing up, but he was still panting, looking down, and the older’s voice was distant. He straightened his back. A cold hand pressed against his forehead.

“H-hyung…”

He whined, feeling his eyes water up without knowing why.

“Shit, he has a fever.” 

Niel figured Jisung was talking to Seongwoo, who was now also by his side, looking at him with a worried expression.

Daniel felt like shit. His head was pounding and his throat hurt from throwing up. There was this horrible taste on his mouth, too, and the smell of vomit wasn’t helping. Plus, his body felt tired, heavy and hot, but at the same time he was cold.

“Hyung, it huwts.”

He didn’t know where that speech problem had come from, but he ignored it. Jisung and Seongwoo looked at each other. Was Daniel feeling little? It didn’t seem like it, but then again…

“It’s ok, love. Tell hyung where it hurts.”

Daniel sniffed.

“Nie… m-my head. A-and it taste bad in my mouth. And ‘m cold.”

Jisung could notice Daniel slipping on little space. He caressed the boy’s hair, trying to help him. He was already sick, struggling against his headspace wasn’t going to help in the slightest.

“It’s ok, angel. Hyung will give you a bath and brush your teeth so the bad taste goes away. Then you’ll feel better, ok?”

Daniel pouted, but nodded. He leaned against Jisung and let the older pull him out of the room. Seongwoo groaned, looking at the floor. Of course he’d have to clean that.

 

Daniel didn’t take long to fall into little space, but he wasn’t the sweet energetic little Jisung was used to. He let Jisung pull him around and bathe him without a word, not even playing with the toys Jisung offered him. The older sighed. He brushed the boy’s teeth and bathed him, then dressed the boy on his onesie before taking him back to their room.

Seongwoo had cleaned quite well, and had even remade Daniel’s bed. Jisung sat the boy down before taking some medicine. That took some convincing, but after some soft coaxing and Jiji, Minmin and Woo asking too, Daniel took it.

“Ok, baby. Now try to sleep some. You’ll feel better once you wake up.”

He said, trying to get up, but Daniel whined and held his robe.

“N-no, daddy, stay.”

Jisung sighed and sat back down on the bed, already having expected that. But Daniel seemed to want something more. He was restless and whining. An idea occurred to Jisung and he cursed himself for forgetting. He reached over and looked for Daniel’s pacifier without leaving the boy’s side. But Daniel only sucked on it for a few seconds before whining and spitting it out.

Jisung looked at the boy, confused. Usually, Daniel loved his pacifier. He often sucked on it to calm himself down, and couldn’t sleep without it, so why…

And then he noticed Daniel looking at his chest. Maybe… he pulled Daniel up, making space for himself, then helped the little lie down on his chest. Daniel’s hands immediately went to his shirt, pulling on it. Jisung watched, amazed, before taking off his shirt. And then Daniel was sucking on his nipple, as if he was nursing.

It was… different. Jisung had never even imagined something like this. But Daniel looked absolutely content and relaxed, finally calming down and closing his eyes. A wave of fondness and protectiveness washed through the older boy. Seongwoo re-entered the room. He raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t even ask.”

Said Jisung. The younger boy shrugged and went to his bed.

“Wake me up if you need anything, hyung.”

Jisung nodded and wished the boy goodnight.

 

Jisung woke up to someone squirming on top of him. He opened his eyes. Daniel was asleep on his chest, his thumb on his mouth, squirming and frowning. The previous night came back to Jisung. Carefully, he stood up, lying Daniel down, and shook the boy.

“Niel. Baby, wake up.”

It took a while, but finally Daniel opened his eyes.

“Daddy?”

He called. Jisung smiled.

“Hey, little one. How are you feeling?”

Daniel frowned.

“’ead huwts.”

Jisung nodded.

“And are you feeling sick?”

Daniel shook his head, then grimaced.

“No sick, daddy.”

Jisung sighed, thankful.

“That’s good. C’mon, let’s get some food in you. Soon you’ll be feeling perfect.”

 

Minhyun raised an eyebrow as he walked in on Jisung helping Daniel drink milk form his sippy cup. Usually, little Daniel was pretty independent when it came to eating and drinking, as long as he had the right stuff.

“Is everything ok?”

Jisung looked at his and shrugged.

“Niel wasn’t feeling good. He threw up yesterday, and he had a fever. I gave him some medicine that helped with the temperature. Now it’s only the headache.”

Minhyun nodded.

“Ok. And why are you feeding him?”

Jisung bit his lip.

“I think… he seems younger than he usually is.”

Minhyun’s eyes widened.

“Oh.” A smile took his face. “That’s cute.”

Jisung smiled too. Then Daniel whined and pushed the cup away, snuggling against Jisung.

“Daddy, tiwed.”

Jisung cooed at the boy before picking him up.

“It’s ok, baby. You can watch some cartoons with your stuffies while daddy cleans things up, right?”

Daniel nodded and let himself be taken to the living room. Jisung covered him and gave him his plush toys, before turning on the TV. Daniel pulled the covers around himself, ending up looking like a burrito. Jisung chuckled.

“Daddy will come watch with you in a second, ok?”

Daniel nodded and Jisung kissed his forehead before heading to the kitchen.

 

The members cheered as Jisung declared they wouldn’t be going to practice. Daniel was feeling bad and little, and he couldn’t deal with that alone. He needed the older members, and that meant the younger ones would have to practice alone and… yeah, they should just all stay home.

It was now Seongwoo’s turn taking care of Daniel, and Minhyun took the chance to go looking for Jihoon. He found the boy on the kitchen, playing on his phone.

“Hey.”

He greeted. Jihoon briefly looked up, then bit his lip and looked down.

“Hey, hyung.”

Minhyun sat next to the boy.

“You haven’t talked to Woojin.”

Jihoon blushed and pouted.

“I know.”

Minhyun sighed.

“Why not?”

Jihoon put his phone away, but didn’t look up.

“I’m scared I’ll say or do something stupid.”

Minhyun chuckled.

“Nothing’s gonna happen, Jihoonie. Don’t worry about it. You should really talk to him. both of you are clearly upset about this distance, and that’s bad for the group and for your own well-being.”

Jihoon sighed and looked at Minhyun.

“Are… are you sure it’s a good idea?”

He asked. Minhyun nodded. Jihoon sighed again and pocketed his phone, getting up.

“If this turns out bad, I’m blaming you.”

Minhyun laughed and waved the boy off. What could go wrong?

 

A lot of things could go wrong, apparently. Minhyun was cleaning the kitchen when a very distraught Woojin passed him, face red and breath way too quick to be healthy. The older looked at the onions he’d been dicing and sighed. He should have just become a chef. Putting the knife down, he went looking for Woojin.

Woojin was on his room, curled up, knees pulled close to his chest. Minhyun sat by his side.

“Ok, what the hell happened now?”

He expected to make the boy laugh, but instead Woojin groaned and looked up, trying not to cry.

“Jihoonie kissed me.”

Minhyun only stared. There was something definitely wrong there, because he knew that Woojin had a crush on Jihoon, the boy had told him about it already. But his expression was sad, slightly panicked, and… was that disgust? It made no sense at all.

“And that’s bad because…?”

He prompted. Woojin let out a sad sigh that made Minhyun want to hug him. He noticed the tears on the boy’s eyes were on the verge of falling.

“I-I hate this so much, hyung.”

The boy’s voice broke and a tear rolled down his face, and then another, until he was silently crying and angrily wiping away the tears. Not that it made a difference, because they just continued to wet his cheeks, no matter how hard he tried to stop them. Minhyun extended a hand towards the boy, pushing his bangs back and tucking them behind his ear as well as he could.

“Woojinie, hey, calm down.”

Woojin finally let out a sob, and pulled himself against Minhyun, crying on the older’s chest. Now he was really crying, with a whole lot of sobbing and coughing thrown in the middle. They stayed like that for a while. Sometimes, the best thing to do was to let it all out. So Minhyun let the boy soak his shirt, heart breaking at each little sob Woojin let out. Until the boy slowly stopped, and lifted his head, drying his cheeks. Minhyun waited for the younger to speak.

“I’m sorry, hyung. I got your shirt all wet.”

Minhyun brushed the boy’s hair with his hand.

“Don’t worry about it. Do you feel better?”

Woojin shrugged.

“Not much.”

Minhyun continued to caress his hair.

“Can you tell hyung what’s the problem? You told me you liked Jihoonie. So why are you upset that he kissed you?”

Woojin sighed and Minhyun noticed him tapping his feet, a clear sign of his nervousness. He was also blushing, but Minhyun was pretty sure that was because he had mentioned the kiss. 

“I want Jihoonie to like me back, I really want. And kissing is ok. But… but I’m not normal. We can’t be in a relationship, because I’ll never be enough.”

Minhyun’s hand stilled on the younger’s head for a second, before starting to move again.

“Yah, what are you saying? What do you mean, not enough?”

Despite his words, he kept his voice soft. Woojin’s cheeks went red. Minhyun was absolutely confused.

“I’m not… he will want to kiss and then do other stuff, and I can do kissing, kissing is nice. But… but I can’t do the other stuff, hyung.”

Minhyun frowned, still confused.

“Are you saying you’re not ready to have sex? Cause I’m sure Jihoonie…”

Woojin interrupted him, face completely red.

“No, I’m saying that I don’t want to. I don’t want it now and I won’t ever want it. I’m broken, hyung.”

And then it dawned on Minhyun. And shit, that must have been so fucking hard. It was already hard to be gay or bisexual or anything that wasn’t heterosexual, especially in Korea. But those sexualities at least had visibility. Now he understood why Woojin was so good with Daniel. He knew what it was like to be something that most people weren’t even aware existed.

“Woojinie. You’re not broken, Woojinie. You know it’s ok, right? To not want… to not want to have sex and all of that.”

Woojin cringed and shook his head with way too much force.

“It’s not! Because I want to go on cute dates, and cuddle, and get little pecks on the lips or on the cheek, but… but no one’s going to want to do that if they know they won’t be able to have sex. I can’t do this to Jihoon, I just can’t.”

Woojin was crying again, but this time Minhyun didn’t just leave him be.

“I know it’s hard, Woojinie, but you can’t do this to yourself. You can’t assume people won’t want you because of that. Lots of asexual people date and marry and all of that.” He paused, squeezing the boy’s shoulder as Woojin cringed at the term ‘asexual’, then continued. “And you can’t take the choice away from Jihoon. He’s old enough to decide what he wants and what he doesn’t want. He’s probably confused and hurt right now, because you just ran away after he kissed you. You need to talk to him and explain everything, and let him choose what he wants to do. You don’t know what will happen. And you’ll never know if you don’t try.”  
Woojin sniffed, once again drying his tears.

“I… I don’t think I can, hyung.”

Minhyun moved his hand to squeeze Woojin’s thigh.

“Yes, you can.”

Woojin shook his head.

“You’re the f-first person I’ve ever told about this.”

The admission went way beyond that simple phrase. It was an ‘I trust you’ and a ‘I don’t think I’m ready to tell anyone else.’ Minhyun felt something swell in his heart. It was a lot of trust Woojin was putting in him. Minhyun worked hard to make sure all of the members knew they could trust him with anything, and to see the results of so much effort was rewarding.

“I know it’s hard. But you can’t just leave Jihoonie hanging. He kissed you, Woojinie. I know you’re scared, but he probably is, too. Scared that he’s broken your friendship, scared that you don’t like him back. He’s scared too.”

Woojin bit his lip.

“What if he hates me, hyung?”

Minhyun shook his head.

“First of all, Jihoonie is not like that. When we told you about Niel, you told us you wouldn’t hate him, because you knew what it was like to be different, right? Well, it’s the same for Jihoonie, just the other way around. He knows the struggle. He won’t hate you. Second, you may not notice, but I do, Woojinie, we all do, that Jihoon looks at you like you hung the stars. It would take a lot of effort to make him hate you. Don’t go thinking it’s easy.”

At that, Woojin cracked a smile. It was small, but it was sincere.

“Ok. Ok, I’ll talk to him.”

Minhyun gave him a quick hug.

“That’s my boy. And please, Woojinie. Remember what I told you, ok? You’re not broken for being like this. It’s ok. As long as you have your friends, you’ll be ok, and we’re here for you.”

Woojin nodded and pulled Minhyun back for another hug. Then he got up and started making his way out of the room, hopefully to go looking for Jihoon.

 

“Niel, you have to take it.” Daniel only closed his mouth more, pressing it into a thin line, arms crossed. Jisung huffed. “C’mon, baby, you were so good yesterday.”

It was time for Daniel to take medicine again, but the boy was feeling a lot better than he’d felt the night before. And this meant he had more energy to fight.

“No want. Taste yucky.”

Jisung groaned.

“Niel. You have to take it. If you don’t take it you’ll throw up again.”

This made Daniel stop, eyeing the medicine suspiciously. Then he crossed his arms tighter.

“No.”

Jisung closed his eyes and asked for strength. Then he glared at Daniel.

“Kang Daniel, either you take this right now or you’ll be in trouble, mister.”

At that, Daniel’s eyes widened. He’d never been punished before. He didn’t want to start now. His eyes watered.

“N-no! Niel sowy daddy, sowy.”

Jisung sighed caressing the boy’s hair.

“It’s ok, baby. Just take it.” Then he thought of something. “If you take it, daddy will let you nurse.”

This got Daniel’s attention. The boy glared at the medicine, but opened his mouth. Jisung cheered internally. He gave the boy his medicine, watching as Daniel grimaced and swallowed, soon opening his mouth to show Jisung it was empty.

“Dwank all, daddy.”

Jisung smiled and pet the boy’s head.

“You did, kitten. Very good. Come here.”

And then he was sitting next to Daniel and taking of his shirt, and he should probably find this weird, but he was in love with the way Daniel nursed on his chest.

 

Woojin passed Daniel and Jisung on his way to the dorm’s back room, where he knew Jihoon would be. Usually, he would have stopped and asked what, exactly, were they doing, but at the moment his mind was set on something else. He reached the room he’d left Jihoon at and took a deep breath. He could do this.

“Hey.”

Jihoon looked up and Woojin felt his heart break at the boy’s puffy and red-shot eyes. The older looked down again, expression hurt.

“What do you want?”

Woojin swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump that had formed on his throat.

“I came to apologize.”

At that, Jihoon sighed, moving to make space for Woojin on the floor. The younger sat down, tense, hating the distance between them.

“I think I should be the one apologizing. I kissed you without knowing if you wanted that, and now I ruined our friendship. I’m sorry, Woojinie. I guess I read the signals wrong.”

Before Jihoon could even finish, Woojin was already vehemently shaking his head.

“No! No, Jihoonie, you didn’t.”

Jihoon looked at him, confused.

“Then why did you run?”

It was half curious and half accusatory, and Woojin could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks.

“I… I got scared.”

Jihoon frowned.

“Of what? It was just a kiss.”

Woojin sighed. He didn’t know how to say this. He’d only ever tried with Minhyun, and even then, he hadn’t said it out loud, the boy had just guessed right.

“Yeah, but after a kiss comes handjobs, then blowjobs, then sex, and…”

Jihoon made a strangled sound on the back of his throat, interrupting Woojin, who looked at the older. Jihoon’s face was all red and he looked panicked.

“You thought I wanted to have sex? Right here? Why…?” 

This time it was Woojin’s turn to get red and desperate. Way to go, Woojin.

“No! No, that’s not it, I just…” He closed his eyes. There was no way out now. “I’m asexual.”

There was no immediate reaction to that. No thunder, no hurricane, nothing. Woojin slowly opened his eyes. And then he made eye contact with Jihoon, and the boy’s expression was so fond and so soft, and to his horror, Woojin felt his eyes watering.

“Oh, no, Woojinie, don’t cry. Come here, hey, it’s ok.”

He was pathetic. He was supposed to be clearing things up, and now he was on his crush’s arms, crying like a baby.

“I like you so much, Jihoonie. B-but if you’re with me, we’ll never go past little pecks and cuddling, and… and I don’t want to hold you back.”

The explanation came more easily, this time. Jihoon shushed him, rubbing his back, then pulled back and held Woojin’s face in his hands, squishing his cheeks and making Woojin pucker his lips like a fish. He then pressed a quick peck to the younger’s lips, making Woojin blush and fight of the urge to giggle.

“You have no idea how much I like you, Woojinie. I won’t lie and say I’ve never thought of us doing…. Well, that. But it’s not all about sex. I like you so much, and I want to be with you. If you only want cuddles and hand holding, that’s fine. I can do that.”

Woojin kicked his feet.

“You know it’s not just now, right? That I won’t ever want that.”

Jihoon nodded.

“I know. And I don’t care. I love you.”

The confession made all of Woojin’s blood rush to his cheeks and a smile took his face.

“I love you too.”

He mumbled, making Jihoon giggle. The older pressed a quick peck to Woojin’s cheek.

“You’re adorable. Are you sure I’m the only little here?”

Woojin shoved the boy away, pouting, and Jihoon giggled, coming back and kissing the boy’s cheek again.

“I love you.”

He said. Woojin made a mental note to thank Minhyun.

 

“Is he sucking…?”

Jisung rolled his eyes. Guanlin was the third person to ask. He just wanted some peace and quiet.

“Yes. Yes, he’s sucking on my chest.”

Guanlin stared, seeming mesmerized. Then he smiled.

“Cute.”

He said, and walked away. Jisung chuckled, despite himself. Against him, Daniel sighed and looked up, blinking.

“Daddy.”

He called. Jisung brushed his bangs back.

“Yes, love?”

“S’eepy.”

Jisung hummed.

“Daddy will get you in bed in a second baby.”

He picked the boy up carefully and carried Daniel to his bedroom. It was easier to take care of the sick little than he thought. He put Daniel down on the bed. Gently, he covered the boy, giving him his stuffies and pacifier. This time, Daniel accepted it, before closing his eyes.

“Wove you, daddy.”

Jisung smiled.

“I love you too, baby.”


	14. Not a Chapter

I'm sorry, guys, I need a break. I'm not good at handling confrontation and my anxiety is acting up. I'm really sorry. I love this story and I love writing it. hopefully, I won't be gone for too long. I just need a little time to myself to think.

I'll try to be back as soon as possible, maybe I just need a few days. I hope you guys don't give up on me or this story while I'm gone >.<

Love you <3


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back? I think? This chapter is not my best work, but I gotta restart somewhere
> 
> Hope you like it!
> 
> Wanna scream about anything with me? https://twitter.com/Jasmine07618357  
> Here's my twitter ^.^

Jisung rolled his eyes as he noticed Daniel quickly retreating from the kitchen, cheeks completely red. He had expected this reaction, really, but a man can dream.

“What happened?”

Asked Jihoon, confused.

“Is this about him sucking on your chest yesterday, hyung?”

Jihoon turned to Seongwoo, seeming shocked and Jisung shrugged.

“Probably, yeah. I’ll go talk to him.”

He didn’t stay to witness Jihoon asking Seongwoo what the older was talking about. Instead, he got up and left, in time to see Daniel entering his room. He headed after the boy

“Niel?”

He called, opening the door. The boy was on his bed and groaned as he saw Jisung entering.

“Hey, hyung.”

He mumbled. Jisung sighed and sat down next to him. Daniel was fiddling with his fingers, looking down. His bottom lip was between his teeth. Softly, Jisung pulled his lip from where they were being chewed.

“Stop is, you’ll hurt yourself. Sometimes I wonder if you shouldn’t use your pacifier even when you aren’t little.”

Daniel glared – pouted – at the older.

“Hyung! I’m not a baby.”

Jisung chuckled.

“I know, but you hurt yourself doing this. Anyways, that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

Daniel sighed.

“I won’t do it again, hyung, promise.”

Jisung frowned.

“What? The lip biting?”

Daniel flushed.

“No. The… the other thing.”

Jisung took a few seconds to understand. Then he chuckled.

“Niel. We’ve known each other for years, even before produce. I saw you grow up. I watched you go through all those awkward phases. Why do you still think I’ll judge you?”

Daniel shrugged.

“It’s… what I did yesterday. It’s weird.”

Jisung put a hand on the boy’s cheek, making Daniel look up. He pressed a kiss to the younger’s forehead.

“It’s not weird. Do you want to hear a secret?” Daniel nodded, curious. “I liked it. A lot.”

The boy’s eyes widened and Jisung laughed at how cute he looked.

“Y-you did, hyung?”

Jisung nodded.

“Yes. It was nice and relaxing, and you looked adorable and so happy. Why wouldn’t I like it?”

Daniel blushed, but now there was a smile on his lips.

“Oh.”

Jisung chuckled.

“Yeah, oh. You gotta stop doubting you, Niel. We’ll always accept you, no matter what. Ok?”

Daniel nodded. Then he hugged Jisung, nuzzling the boy’s neck like a kitten. Jisung chuckled and ruffled the boy’s hair.

“Thank you, hyung.”

Mumbled the younger. Jisung hugged him back.

“Love you, Niel.”

 

“Will you tell the others?”

Jihoon and Woojin were playing videogames. Woojin was sitting on the older’s lap, comfortably leaning against his boyfriend’s – he had a boyfriend!!! – chest. Jihoon’s arms were loosely wrapped around him.

“About…?”

His voice was distant, and Woojin knew ninety per cent of his attention was on the game.

“About being little.”

Jihoon’s character stopped on the screen and two seconds later he was dead. The boy groaned and shoved Woojin, who laughed as he won the round.

“That’s unfair! You cheated!”

Woojin laughed again, but turned around and kissed Jihoon’s cheek.

“Sorry~ I love you.”

Jihoon pouted, but there was a smile threatening to take his face.

“I hate you.”

Woojin laughed.

“You didn’t answer me, though. Will you?”

Behind him, he felt Jihoon sigh.

“I guess. I just don’t know how to do that, exactly.”

Woojin hummed.

“You can just let them find out when you go in little space.”

Jihoon snorted, then stopped.

“Actually… that might not be such a bad idea.”

Woojin smiled cockily.

“I don’t have bad ideas.”

Jihoon shoved him away and restarted the game. Woojin didn’t react fast enough and when he got the controller, his character was dead. He pouted. Jihoon smirked.

“We’re even.”

 

Jihoon’s chance came a few days later. Not that he planned it. Actually, he didn’t even notice he was walking a thin line until he felt his eyes watering.

It had been a stressful week. They had a full schedule, and Jihoon’s own personal schedule was packed. He was running on less than two hours of sleep a night, and when he finally got some free time, he intended to watch TV until he fell asleep – which probably wouldn’t be long.

Except, as he settled on the couch with his blanket and pillow and turned on the TV, he noticed the movie playing. It was Big Hero 6, and Jihoon had no idea why their TV was on a children’s channel, but he didn’t even have time to ponder about it before his eyes grew huge. The movie was ending. The scene was the one in which Baymax sacrificed himself, and before Jihoon noticed his eyes were filled with tears.

“No! No! Baymax!”

For a second his brain was blank. Then he thought ‘oh shit’ and then his adult headspace was gone.

 

Jaehwan was on his room when he heard screaming from the living room. He frowned. Usually when there was screaming in the dorm it was either because Minhyun was screaming at someone to get out of his kitchen or because Woojin and Jihoon had pranked someone. Neither option was possible at the moment. Sighing, he got up.

He didn’t expect to get to the living room and find Jihoon, curled on the sofa, sniffling.

“Jihoonie?”

The boy turned to him, startled, then pouted.

“Jae hyung, B-baymax died.”

Jaehwan looked at the screen. Was that Big Hero 6 playing?

“Uhn…”

He said. Jihoon sobbed and made grabby hands at him. Jaehwan just stared, before shrugging and deciding he’d seen weirder shit in the dorm and going to the boy.

Jihoon wrapped his arms around Jaehwan’s neck and before he knew it there was a boy wrapped around him, clinging to him and crying. Why was it that he was always the one who had to deal with the crying kids?

“Jihoonie, don’t you want to watch the rest of the movie?”

He asked. Jihoon was acting like a kid. What could Jaehwan do, if not treat him like a kid? The boy shook his head.

“B-baymax died.”

He repeated. Jaehwan chuckled to himself. Usually, Jihoon made a point to avoid looking cute. He was always sending death glares at anyone who called him cute and threatening to kill those who mentioned the infamous ‘jeojang’. But at the moment, there was no better adjective to describe him than ‘cute’.

“Well, you don’t know that. C’mon, let’s finish it, then hyung will get you something to eat, ok?”

He sat down on the couch with the boy on his lap and Jihoon reluctantly turned to the TV.

 

“What are you guys doing?”

Jaehwan looked up, startled. He hadn’t noticed Jisung entering the room.

“Oh, hey hyung.” Jihoon jumped up then landed on his knees, making an explosion sound. Jisung raised an eyebrow. Jaehwan laughed. “We were playing Big Hero 6.”

Jisung looked from Jaehwan’s slightly sweaty face to Jihoon, who was looking around pretending to be hidden, finger guns ready to shoot.

“What…?”

Someone else entered the room.

“Hey, guys, what… oh. Jihoon went into little space?”

Jisung looked at Minhyun, eyebrow raised.

“Jihoon is a little?”

“Jaehwan hyung! They’re shooting! To the ground!”

Jaehwan threw himself on the ground next to Jihoon and Minhyun and Jisung laughed at the scene.

“Yes. He told me and Woojin on that day he screamed at Jinyoung.”

Jisung frowned.

“That was a while ago, though.”

Minhyun shrugged.

“He didn’t know how to tell you guys. He was waiting for a chance to go into little space so you guys would know. I don’t think he intended on doing it today, though.”

Jaehwan cleaned his throat.

“I hate to interrupt, but I think Jihoonie is getting sleepy. He needs a bath before bed, though.”

Jisung and Minhyun turned to see that indeed, Jihoon looked sleepy. He was still playing, making shooting noises and turning around with his finger guns, but his eyes were drooping and he looked tired. Jisung smiled.

“Well, you were the one playing with him. He’ll probably want you to bathe him.”

Jaehwan’s eyes widened.

“No, please, don’t do this to me, hyung.”

Minhyun chuckled.

“It’s Jihoonie’s choice.” He said. “Jihoonie, time to take a bath.”

The little turned to them, pouting.

“But I don’t want to shower, hyung.”

Minhyun took note that Jihoon seemed to be older than Daniel.

“But if you don’t you’ll be smelly, and no one will want to go near you.”

Jihoon looked horrified. He immediately got up from the floor and ran to Minhyun, hugging him.

“No, hyung, I’ll shower! Promise!”

Minhyun ruffled his hair.

“Now that’s my good boy. C’mon, who do you want to help you?”

The little let go and looked around, before shyly pointing at Jaehwan. Minhyun and Jisung laughed as the older groaned. But then Jaehwan noticed Jihoon’s sad pout and stopped glaring. Instead he smiled and opened his arms.

“It’ll be so fun, Jihoonie! We can get on a submarine and look for enemies underwater!”

Jihoon’s eyes lit up. He squealed and grabbed Jaehwan’s hand, pulling him to the bathroom. Minhyun and Jisung were left behind, wondering if it was a good idea to let a kid take care of another kid.

“Was that Jihoon pulling Jaehwan hyung to the bathroom?”

Jisung screamed. Minhyun choked on his saliva.

“Fuck, Niel, you almost gave me a heart attack!”

Daniel smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry, Jisung hyung.”

Minhyun, recovering from his coughing fit, nodded his head.

“Yes, brat, it was them. Jihoonie is in little space and Jaehwan is helping him shower.”

Daniel’s eyes widened so much it looked comical.

“Jihoonie is a little?”

Minhyun smiled lightly. Daniel sounded so hopeful it was adorable.

“Yes. He told Woojinie and I a while ago. He was trying to figure out how to tell everyone else.”

A smile took Daniel’s face.

“I, he… how old is he?”

Minhyun looked at Jisung. The older shrugged.

“Maybe seven? Eight? I don’t know, but he’s a bit older than you.”

Daniel pouted. Minhyun laughed and pulled the boy into a hug.

“Awn, Niel, why are you sad? You have someone to play with you in little space now.”

The boy huffed.

“It’s not fair, hyung. Why does he get to be older?”

Minhyun caressed his hair.

“I don’t know, Niel. Why does it make a difference?”

The boy whined.

“Because being younger is embarrassing.”

Minhyun laughed.

“Maybe Jihoonie will want a pacifier, too, you never know.”

Daniel shoved the older away, blushing, and Minhyun laughed. Jisung pulled Daniel to him.

“Ignore him, Niel. He’s just being annoying.” Minhyun stuck his tongue out to Jisung. Daniel laughed. “It’ll be fun for the two of you. You’ll have a playmate.”

Daniel nodded.

“It’ll be nice.”

He mumbled. Jisung noticed the boy was almost asleep against him. He laughed.

“C’mon, you big kid. Let’s go to bed.”

Daniel let himself be pulled away. Minhyun watched, amused. Even when Daniel wasn’t little, he was still a little.

Laughing to himself, he set to tidy the living room up. Jaehwan and Jihoon seemed to have used all of the cushions to play, and they were thrown around the room carelessly. It wasn’t like Minhyun had anything else to do, anyways.

He was finishing up when Jaehwan stepped out of the bathroom, and in that moment Minhyun knew that he’d made a bad decision. Jaehwan’s smile proved him right.

“Minhyun hyung, Jihoonie asked me to read him a story before bed. Can you tidy the bathroom up a bit while I do that?”

Minhyun only sighed.

“I hate you.”

He mumbled. Jaehwan had the audacity of throwing him a kiss before pulling Jihoon along with him to the room. Minhyun opened the bathroom door.

The bathroom was a mess. There was water everywhere and bubbles on almost every surface. The other towels that had been there were all wet, and the toilet paper would have to be thrown away. Minhyun was pretty sure half of that was Jaehwan’s fault. He sighed and went looking for a mop.

 

Once the bathroom looked like a bathroom again, Minhyun put the cleaning products away and headed to his room. As he entered, he couldn’t help but to smile, every intention of yelling at Jaehwan forgotten.

Jaehwan and Jihoon were on the younger’s bed. Jihoon was curled up on a ball, cuddled against Jaehwan. The older had an arm around the boy’s waist and the other one curled between them. Their legs were all tangled up, and Jaehwan was almost falling from the bed. Chuckling, Minhyun moved closer and carefully pushed both boys towards the wall, so that he wouldn’t wake up to Jaehwan falling off the bed.

Jihoon whined in his sleep and curled up closer to Jaehwan, who tightened his grip on the boy. Minhyun laughed silently and covered the duo, then headed to his own bed. He ignored the way his heart was beating a bit too fast to be normal. Now wasn’t the time to get a crush. He had other shit he needed to work out first.


	16. Butterflies

Seongwoo smiled to himself as he walked towards Daniel’s bed, trying to be silent. On the previous day they’d been told they would get the next day off, and no one had been surprised when Daniel dropped into little space as soon as they were home. It had been a harsh week, full of schedules and practice, and they were all tired. But Seongwoo had been waiting for this chance to arise for a while, and he wouldn’t waste. Which was why he was awake at nine am on a break day.

“Niel. Hey. Niel, wake up.”

He called softly, trying not to wake Jisung up. The little whined and moved, inching closer to Seongwoo. The older smiled at the cuteness that was Daniel sleeping with his pacifier in his mouth.

“Niel, wake up, baby.”

The little whined louder and Seongwoo looked back, checking on Jisung. Thankfully, the leader was still asleep. Seongwoo turned back to Daniel and smiled when he noticed the boy was awake, looking at him.

“Woo ‘yung?”

He said, seeming confused. Seongwoo caressed his hair.

“Morning, baby. I have a surprise for you.”

Immediately, Daniel perked up, eyes opening properly.

“Su’pwise?”

Seongwoo smiled excitedly and nodded. Daniel squealed and the older flinched, but Jisung only turned on his sleep and didn’t wake up.

“You have to be quiet, though, baby. Can you do that?”

Daniel’s eyes widened and he covered his mouth with his hands. Seongwoo nodded, smiling.

“Now let’s go, we have a full day today.”

Daniel raised his arms and Seongwoo picked the boy up, leaving the room.

 

Seongwoo wanted to dress Daniel on he cute lion romper they’d bought him a while ago, along with his lion socks and a cute kitten hairband that the boy loved. But they were going outside, and this was already risky enough. If someone caught them, he wouldn’t be able to explain why was Daniel dressed like a toddler.

So he dressed the boy in loose jeans and his apeach hoodie, and then after eating breakfast they were ready to go.

Seongwoo had been wanting to take Daniel to the park since that one incident with the butterfly. He had tried multiple times to plan it, but something always seemed to get in the way. But this time it was perfect. The whole day, just for them, and Seongwoo would make it the best day possible for his little boy.

He knew Daniel was also dying to play with Jihoon, and he’d wanted to take the younger with them, too. He’d immediately thought of taking the boy along when he let it slip that he was also a little one day as they played with Daniel. Unfortunately, Jihoon wasn’t feeling little the night before, and Seongwoo didn’t want to risk waking the boy up for nothing. He did ask Minhyun to warn him as soon as the boy felt little – if he felt little at all on that day.

“Woo ‘yung, whewe we goin’?”

Asked Daniel from the backseat of the car, taking Seongwoo from his thoughts.

“It’s a surprise, baby boy.”

He answered, with a smile. Daniel giggled and clapped happily.

“Niel woves su’pwises!”

Seongwoo laughed at the adorableness. He’d have pinched Daniel’s cheeks if it wasn’t for the fact that he was driving.

“Hyung promises you’ll really love this one.”

He said. Daniel beamed at him, bunny teeth showing, and Seongwoo’s heart melted. Daniel was always adorable, all bunny smiles and crinkled eyes. But excited little Daniel? That was on a whole new level.

 

They didn’t take long to arrive. The place Seongwoo had found was fairly close to their dorm, and – the biggest reason why he’d chosen it – empty. It was a little field, too grassy for people to exercise there and devoid of toys, so parents didn’t take their kids there to play. But it was full of flowers and, of course, the butterflies Daniel seemed to love so much. Considering it was a weekday, Seongwoo was fairly sure they could stay there unnoticed for quite some time.

“Close your eyes, pumpkin.”

Daniel squealed and covered his eyes. Seongwoo laughed and left the car, opening the door by Daniel’s side and picking the boy up. He looked around. There was no one near. Smiling, he took Daniel out of the car and walked towards the grass, a towel and his food basket balanced on his arm.

“I’m going to put you down, baby. Wait here while I get things ready.” Daniel nodded and Seongwoo put him down, extending the picnic towel on the grass and setting the basket down. “Ok, open your eyes.”

Daniel did. And his eyes widened and he gaped. He turned to Seongwoo, mouth hanging open. Seongwoo smiled.

“Do you like it, baby?”

Daniel squealed and Seongwoo laughed. The little clapped excitedly and ran to hug Seongwoo.

“Fank you, fank you, fank you!”

Seongwoo laughed as he was hugged by a not-so-tiny Daniel. He ruffled the boy’s hair, happy to see the little happy.

“I’m glad you like it. Now c’mon, the butterflies are waiting for you.”

Daniel couldn’t be happier.

 

The morning was one of the best Seongwoo had had in a long time. Daniel chased the butterflies, laughing as he got close to them and running when they flew away. He picked a flower and shyly gave it to Seongwoo at one point, blushing and giggling, and Seongwoo had put it behind his ear, asking the little if he looked good. Daniel had hid his face in his hands and ran away giggling.

Halfway through the morning, they stopped to eat. Daniel was apparently feeling cute on the day, because he did aegyo until Seongwoo agreed to feed him. Not that it took long; Seongwoo was weak for grownup Daniel, and much more so for little Daniel. After eating, Daniel dragged Seongwoo to play with him, and the two ended up having a tickle war on the grass.

Daniel was making – trying to make – flower crowns by Seongwoo when the older got a message. He smiled as he read.

“Niel, should we go home? A little bird told me there’s someone wanting to have a play-date with you.”

Daniel’s eyes widened.

“Weally?” He looked at the flowers in his hands. “Niel tate his fwowers?”

Seongwoo nodded, getting up.

“Sure, bug. Go pick some up, then let’s go.”

Daniel didn’t need to be told twice.

 

When they arrived, the car was littered with leaves and Daniel had two flower crowns. They looked a bit weird, but Seongwoo wasn’t about to tell the little that.

“Wow, Niel! These look good! What are you going to do with them?”

Daniel looked down shyly and trusted one of the crowns to Seongwoo. The older smiled and took it.

“For me? Really? Thank you, Niel, it’s beautiful.”

Daniel blushed and put his thumb in his mouth, something Seongwoo noticed he did when embarrassed.

“Woo ‘yung the pwince and Niel the pwincess.”

It took all Seongwoo had not to squeal right then and there. Instead, he pulled Daniel into a hug, pinching his cheeks.

“Aish, you’re so adorable, baby boy.” Daniel whined, but he was smiling. Seongwoo let him go and offered a hand. Daniel hesitated, his mood changing completely. Seongwoo tilted his head.

“You ok, bug?”

Daniel pouted around his thumb.

“N-niel scawed.”

Seongwoo frowned.

“Of what, baby?”

Daniel gestured to their dorm.

“What if Hoon no wike Niel?”

Seongwoo cooed at the boy.

“Oh, baby, of course Jihoonie will like you! You’re the cutest, nicest little boy there is, why wouldn’t he like you?”

Daniel didn’t seem convinced.

“Hoon big boy.”

Seongwoo took a second to understand what he meant.

“It’s ok, Niel. Hoon will be a nice hyung and you two will have a lot of fun together. I promise, ok?”

Daniel hesitated a little bit more, then nodded and took Seongwoo’s hand.

“Paci?”

He asked. Seongwoo smiled and led the boy inside, handing him his pacifier as they entered the lift.

 

The living room was a mess. There were cushions on the floor, a sheet hanging from two chairs and toy cars thrown around, along with little Pokémon action figures. The couch had been turned sideways, and in the middle of it all were Jihoon and Jaehwan, playing with tops. Seongwoo had no idea where they’d gotten tops, he was pretty sure they didn’t have it in the dorm, but he didn’t question. Instead, he picked Daniel up, sensing how scared and shy the boy was, and walked in.

“Hey, guys! We’re back.”

Jihoon and Jaehwan were too focused and didn’t even turn to him, but Woojin peeked from his spot on the now weirdly positioned couch and Minhyun entered the room from the kitchen.

“Finally! I thought you’d been abducted.”

Seongwoo laughed.

“I told you I’d go out.”

He said. Minhyun shrugged.

“You never know. Is Niel ok?”

Seongwoo glanced at the boy. Daniel was clinging to him, face buried on the older’s chest. He nodded at Minhyun.

“He’s a bit shy. But he really wanted to play with Jihoonie.”

At that, Jihoon looked up.

“Hi, hyung.”

Seongwoo waved as well as he could, holding the basket, the towel and Daniel.

“Hey, Jihoonie.”

The boy put his top down and walked up to the older, curiously looking at Daniel. He tilted his head, stopping in front of Seongwoo, then pulled on Daniel’s sleeve. The little looked up from his hiding spot. Jihoon smiled at him.

“Hi, Niel!” Daniel shrieked and hid again and Seongwoo, Minhyun and Jaehwan laughed. Jihoon pouted. “What did I do?”

Seongwoo chuckled.

“You did nothing wrong, don’t worry. Niel is just shy.”

Jihoon’s pout changed into a happy face.

“Wait here.”

And saying that he ran out of the room. The other four looked at each other. Minhyun shrugged. Woojin shrugged. Jaehwan snorted and got up, picking up the tops to put them away.

Seongwoo took this chance to put Daniel down.

“Niel, can you let go? Woo hyung will be right here, but you’re getting heavy, baby.”

Daniel whined, but let himself be put down. Minhyun approached him, opening his arms. Daniel smiled and hugged the older.

“Papa.”

He greeted, happy.

“Hey, buddy. Did you have fun today?”

Daniel nodded.

“Woo ‘yung weawy nice. A-and Niel pwayed wif the bu’efwies! And maded fwower cwowns!”

Minhyun laughed at the boy’s excitement. It was a bit hard to understand Daniel, sometimes, especially when he got excited, but they were all getting pretty good at deciphering what the little said.

“That’s really nice, bug.”

He said, but before they could talk more, Jihoon ran back into the room.

Daniel immediately hid behind Minhyun, letting his pacifier fall. Jihoon didn’t seem fazed. Instead, he stopped in front of Minhyun.

“Niel~ hyung got something reeeeeeally cool for you.”

This seemed to get Daniel’s attention. Minhyun watched, amused.

“F-fow Niel?”

Asked the little. Jihoon nodded.

“But hyung can only give it to you if you come out of there.”

Daniel pouted, but after a second of hesitation stepped out of his hiding spot. Jihoon smiled blindingly and took his hand from his back. He was holding up a plush bunny with caramel fur and a pacifier in its mouth. Seongwoo had to hold his laughter at how much the bunny looked like Daniel. He looked at Minhyun. ‘Where did you get this?’ he mouthed. Minhyun chuckled silently, saying he’d answer later.

Daniel squealed. He looked at Jihoon. The boy offered the plushie. Daniel took it carefully, and as soon as it was in his hold he hugged it to his chest, squealing. It was the cutest scene ever, and Seongwoo noticed Woojin taking a picture. He’d have to ask for that, later.

“What do you say, Niel?”

Asked Minhyun. Daniel looked up at Jihoon, smiling.

“Fank you, Hoon ‘yung!”

Jihoon laughed.

“You’re welcome. Want to play?”

And just like that the two littles were playing, all worried forgotten. Seongwoo smiled as he watched. He was glad they’d found out about this side of their band mates.

 

Daniel fell asleep a little bit after their afternoon snack.

Him and Jihoon spent hours playing. The others had been a bit worried about the age difference between them being too big, but Jihoon didn’t seem to mind taking care of Daniel. They played with the plushies, then played a memory game that Jihoon clearly let Daniel win. Then they had set of to ‘explore the jungle’, and the image of Jihoon helping Daniel jump from one cushion to the other was adorable.

And then when snack time came, Jihoon had insisted on feeding Daniel himself. It was quite a scene, because Jihoon was a messy eater, and Daniel was so happy that he kept giggling and clapping, and most of the food ended up on their faces and on the floor, rather then their stomach.

But both littles seemed so happy by the end of the ordeal that no one had the heart to scold them. After eating, it became clear that Daniel wouldn’t stay up for long. When Jihoon noticed the boy’s eyes dropping, he asked Minhyun for Daniel’s pacifier, then made Daniel lie on his lap and he read a book for the little. He stumbled over most of the words, and had stuttered more than talked, but Daniel didn’t seem to mind, and soon he was asleep, toy bunny pressed to his chest.

“Good job, Jihoonie. Thank you for getting him to sleep.”

Jihoon beamed proudly as Seongwoo complimented him and let the older take the sleeping boy.

Seongwoo took Daniel to his bed, dressing the boy on the kitten pyjamas they’d bought for him. He covered the boy and smiled as Daniel snuggled closer to his bunny. The older kissed Daniel’s forehead.

“Sleep tight, bug.”

 

Daniel wasn’t feeling little when he woke up, but he was feeling quite relaxed and happy. He stretched, looking at the clock. Seven pm. Someone would probably come over soon to wake him up. Yawning, he got up to change. No matter how much he’d gotten better at accepting his little side, he still would rather not let the others see him wearing kitten pyjamas while in adult headspace.

He kept the pacifier in his mouth as he changed, though. It was something he would rather keep a secret, the fact that he liked having his pacifier even when he wasn’t feeling little. Jisung had joked about it, once, and Daniel was pretty sure the older knew. But he’d never brought it up again, and Daniel wouldn’t be the one to do it.

Once he was properly dressed he took out the pacifier, putting it away. He was about to head out when someone entered the room, almost knocking into him.

“Oh, wow, hey.”

Daniel stumbled back and the person, Seongwoo, steadied himself on the door.

“Oh, Niel. Not feeling little?”

Daniel shook his head. His eyes found the flower crown on Seongwoo’s hand and he blushed. The older laughed.

“Don’t be embarrassed. It was super cute and I loved it. Specially when you said I was the prince and you the princess.”

Daniel blushed harder and whined.

“Shut up, hyung.”

Truth was, his crush on Seongwoo when he was little wasn’t born out of nothing. Daniel feared one day the older would connect the dots and figure out that Daniel had a crush on him despite his headspace. But Seongwoo still hadn’t figured it out, and Daniel liked it like this.

The older laughed, reaching out to pinch Daniel’s cheeks.

“I can’t help it, you’re too cute.”

Daniel rolled his eyes, but he was still blushing. He shuffled on his feet.

“Uhn, about today… thank you. I know you were tired and probably wanted to enjoy your free day to stay home, but you took me out, so… yeah, thank you.”

Seongwoo smiled.

“I didn’t mind, Niel. I like spending time with you. Today was fun, I’d do it all again if I had the chance.”

Daniel looked at the older, feeling the sincerity in his words. He smiled.

“Thank you, hyung.”

Seongwoo laughed softly and pulled the younger into a hug.

“Anything for you, Niel.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little bit of Niel and Jihoon being little together ^.^ 
> 
> What do you guys want to see in this story?? Next chapter will have some 2park and Niel meeting another little, but I'm taking requests for future chapters!!!
> 
> If you want to scream with me about groups on twitter, here it is: https://twitter.com/Jasmine07618357
> 
> (We can scream about wanna one or many other boy groups ^.^)

Jihoon was woken up by something poking his cheek. He whined, turning around to avoid the poking. For a moment it worked. Then the person poking him moved and continued to poke his cheek. Jihoon whined again, shrugging the person off. He wanted to sleep! He didn’t want to get up. There was a huff from behind him. And then something plopped on top of him, making him squeal, all the air in his lungs being expelled.

“Ji’oonie ‘yung.”

Jihoon sighed when he recognized Daniel’s voice. It was fun playing with the boy. Daniel was kind of young, a little like a baby, but he played well enough, and Jihoon liked taking care of him. But not when he was trying to sleep!

“Niel, it’s early. Go to sleep.”

The boy whined.

“’yung. Wanna pway.”

Jihoon shrugged the boy off, managing to dislodge Daniel, who fell off.

“Later.” He said. He heard a sniff. Startled, he finally opened his eyes fully, only to see Daniel pouting, sitting on the floor, his lower lip trembling. Jihoon’s eyes widened, immediately he sat up and pulled Daniel up into his bed.

“Sorry, Niel! Hyung didn’t mean to be mean.” Daniel’s pout deepened.

“N-niel falled on ‘is thumb.” He said, sticking his thumb on Jihoon’s face. The boy went cross-eyed to look at it and grimaced. What did the others do when Daniel was hurt? Something lit up in his brain and he smiled. He grabbed Daniel’s hand and kissed the boy’s thumb.

“There! All better!”

Daniel’s frown disappeared and he smiled and Jihoon giggled, because Daniel was really cute. Like a puppy. Or a bunny. Or a kitten.

“Now pway?”

Jihoon shrugged. His sleep had vanished and the idea of playing seemed quite good.

“Sure, what do you want to play?”

 

Jihoon fake cried as Daniel reassured him everything would be ok while wrapping a shirt on the boy’s leg. They were exploring a new planet, and during a chase, Jihoon had fallen and broken his leg. Luckily, Daniel and Jiji were experienced doctors and managed to fix him up.

“All don’!”

Exclaimed the boy, taking a step back to admire his work. Jihoon’s leg was covered with a t-shirt from foot to knee. The t-shirt was being held in place by some tape they had found lying around. Or, as Daniel had explained, the curative leaves from the tree were held together by alien goo.

“Wow! This is really good! Thank you, doctor Niel, thank you, doctor Jiji.”

Daniel beamed proudly. Then he gasped. Jihoon gasped too.

“D-did you hear this?”

Whispered Jihoon. Daniel nodded.

“They tomin’! The a’iens tomin’!”

Jihoon groaned as he got up, holding his leg.

“I-I don’t think I can run.”

He said, panting. Daniel looked at him, horrified.

“No! Ji’oonie ‘yung no stay!”

He offered a hand and Jihoon took it, and the two began to run, Jihoon limping as if every step hurt. They managed to stumble to the couch, and Daniel climbed on it, offering Jihoon a hand. Jihoon looked back, eyes widening.

“Niel! They are coming! I can’t climb!”

Daniel looked over the boy’s shoulder, gasping.

“’yung tan! ‘old Niel’s ‘and!”

Jihoon groaned in pain and grabbed the boy’s hand. He tried one, two, three times. On the fourth attempt, he finally climbed the couch. Him and Daniel fell on the cushions, panting.

“We did it, Niel.”

Daniel giggled.

“We doed!”

They stayed silent, catching their breaths. Jihoon sat up.

“We need to find food, now. If we don’t we’ll die.”

Daniel’s eyes widened. He nodded solemnly.

“Look fow food!”

Jihoon nodded.

“I have an idea. Follow me.”

 

Jisung woke up to a lot of noise coming from the kitchen. He looked at his phone. Eight thirty in the morning. Why was someone up at that time of the day? He turned on his side and noticed Daniel’s bed was empty. He frowned. Daniel was up? Why was he…? his heart stopped. Daniel had been in little space the previous night.

Sitting up, Jisung tried to rationalize things and convince himself that nothing had happened. Daniel never left the room alone when he was little. He made a point to wake Jisung or Seongwoo up to play with him or feed him. He must have woken up in adult headspace. He probably… a loud clank made up Jisung’s mind.

The kitchen was a disaster. Jisung made a mental note to emotionally prepare Minhyun before the boy entered the room. There was milk on the floor, cereal everywhere, bowls on every free surface. And right in the middle, there was Jihoon, a spoon in his hand and a washcloth wrapped around his head. Daniel was busy trying to reach cereal at the bottom of a box and putting it grain by grain on an already overfilled bowl.

The scene was pretty comic. Or it would be, if the idea of having to clean everything up hadn’t popped on Jisung’s mind. He groaned, and this got the two boys attention. Jihoon’s eyes widened and Daniel gasped.

“Niel! Distract him!”

Daniel jumped up and rushed to Jisung.

“Daddy! Niel wan’ to show daddy som’ing.”

Jisung tried to complain, but in the end he let himself be taken away. He heard more noise from the kitchen and sighed, giving up on stressing over it. He could get the others to help, later.

“What is it, Niel?”

Daniel looked around, biting on his lip. Then he made grabby hands at Jisung. Despite himself, the leader chuckled and picked the boy up. Daniel giggled and wrapped his arms around Jisung, kissing the boy’s cheek. Jisung melted.

“Love you, daddy.”

Jisung laughed, giving Daniel a butterfly kiss that made the boy giggle.

“I love you too. But don’t think you can distract from that mess in the kitchen, you little punk.”

Daniel just laughed and lay his head on Jisung’s shoulder, putting his thumb in his mouth.

“No mess, daddy. Niel and Ji’oonie ‘yung ma’ing su’pwise to evewyone.”

Jisung raised an eyebrow, heading to his room to look for Daniel’s pacifier.

“Surprise?”

Daniel nodded.

“Ji’oonie ‘yung’s itea.”

He said. Jisung chuckled. How could he be mad at that?

As he entered the room, he found Seongwoo getting up.

“Hyung, what’s all this noise? It’s… oh. Hey there, Niel.”

Jisung snorted as Daniel hid his face from Seongwoo, giggling. He would never stop finding Daniel’s crush adorable. He sometimes wondered if he should tell Daniel that he knew this crush wasn’t limited to his little self, but he always decided against it. Better to let those two work this out on their own.

“Mo’nin’, Woo ‘yung.”

Mumbled Daniel. Seongwoo smiled and Jisung laughed, luring Daniel out with his pacifier.

Daniel took the item, happily sucking on it, then bounced on Jisung’s lap, asking to be put down, the older let him go and Daniel shyly approached Seongwoo, taking his hand.

“Woo ‘yung. We have a su’pwise fo’ you. Aaaaall of you.”

Seongwoo raised an eyebrow and looked at Jisung.

“You don’t even want to know.”

Said Jisung. Seongwoo snorted.

“That’s nice, Niel. Can you show me?”

Daniel seemed to think for a bit. Then he rushed out, leaving the other two behind.

Seongwoo laughed.

“What is even going on? I just woke up, I’m so confused.”

Jisung laughed.

“I think they decided to make breakfast for us. And by make breakfast I mean they poured all of our cereal and milk on the floor.”

Seongwoo snorted, and Jisung laughed too, past the way of caring. Daniel rushed back in.

“Daddy, Woo ‘yung! You tome now!”

The two boys smiled at the excited little and let Daniel take them with him.

 

On the littles’ defence, the kitchen was pretty ok when Seongwoo and Jisung entered. Jihoon must have cleaned it, and although there was still quite some cleaning to do, the place didn’t look like a warzone anymore.

Sitting by the table were Woojin, Daehwi, Jaehwan and Minhyun. Jihoon was carefully taking bowls of probably soggy cereal to the table, placing them in front of each boy as they watched, fond and amused smiles on their faces.

“Ah, you’ve been woken up, too.”

Said Minhyun, spotting the other two. Jisung chuckled.

“Trust me, you’re lucky you didn’t wake up earlier.”

Minhyun nodded solemnly. He had a feeling Jisung meant it.

Daniel made Seongwoo and Jisung sit down, then rushed to help Jihoon. Which meant that he walked besides Jihoon as the boy took the bowls to the table, as if his presence would keep anything from happening. It was quite endearing.

Once everything was set, Daniel rushed to sit on Jisung’s lap, next to Seongwoo. Jihoon smiled.

“You can eat!”

He announced. No one was too eager to eat the soggy cereal, least of all Jisung, who had seen the process of making those bowls. But no one had the heart to disappoint those two smiling faces, so they all grabbed their spoons and began to eat. Woojin was the first, humming appreciatively. Jihoon looked as if he’d just been praised by the Queen.

“This is amazing, boys! Thank you.”

He said. Jihoon’s smile widened impossibly.

Daniel looked at Seongwoo expectantly. The older managed a smile and put the food in his mouth. Jisung wanted to laugh, but didn’t. Seongwoo bravely swallowed the cereal and smiled.

“Waa, you guys are really good cooks.”

He said. Daniel’s blush and shy smile were definitely worth it.

 

Jisung considered himself quite lucky as he cleaned the kitchen with Minhyun and watched Sungwoon, Guanlin and Jinyoung fighting to eat the cereal. They had gotten up later. Which meant their cereal was practically soup by the time they were told to eat, and Jisung really didn’t want to be them at the moment.

Jihoon and Daniel were playing in the living room with Daehwi, Jaehwan and Woojin. It was a sweet scene. Daniel was laughing as Jaehwan and Woojin tickled him, and Jihoon was happily drawing as Woojin helped, giving him pencils and drawing on his own sheet of paper.

“They’re cute.” Jisung jumped, startled. Minhyun chuckled. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

Jisung snorted.

“Don’t do this, my old heart can’t take it.”

Minhyun laughed.

“You’re not that much older, grandpa. Now help me put the bowls away.”

Jisung laughed and walked away from the door, helping the boy put things away.

“They really are cute. It’s nice taking care of them.”

Minhyun hummed.

“Even if they ruin our dorm, sometimes.”

Jisung chuckled.

“Yes, even if they ruin things.”

They stayed silent for a second, then Minhyun stopped.

“Wait. What is my shirt doing on the floor?”

Jisung turned to look and spotted one of Minhyun’s shirts lying under a chair, full of tape attached to it. He snorted so hard he probably hurt his nose.

“Remember, Min, they are really cute.”

Minhyun groaned. 

“I didn’t sign up for this.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is there anything you want to see happen in the story? If there is, leave suggestions in the comments!!
> 
> If you want to scream with me about groups on twitter, here it is: https://twitter.com/Jasmine07618357
> 
> (We can scream about wanna one or many other boy groups ^.^)

Daniel was sitting on the most uncomfortable chair he’d found around, eyes closed, trying to concentrate. They were backstage from some kind of music show – he didn’t remember which one, exactly – and there was quite some time left before they were allowed to leave. Their turn to present had already come and gone, though, and for that Daniel was glad, because he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to go on stage at the moment.

He had woken up feeling little. Not on little space, but right on the edge, his thumb resting against his lips without him sucking on it. He’d sighed, knowing he couldn’t be little at the moment. They had a full schedule and the damned music show to shoot. He couldn’t go running around playing with toys. But he knew he had to tell someone, so he had swallowed his embarrassment and pulled on Jisung’s sleeve, waking the boy up.

Jisung had been sweet, but not too sweet, knowing that the less they pampered Daniel, the easier it would be for the boy. Daniel was grateful, even if his little self wanted to pout and throw a tantrum.

And now here he was. He’d done well the whole day, but the stress of running around and performing and having to concentrate on not slipping was finally getting to him. He’d already caught himself chewing on his sleeves more than once, and the temptation to suck on his thumb was growing stronger. Not to mention the way he was getting squirmy because of the harsh material of his clothes. All in all, Daniel knew he’d slip soon. And he had to tell one of his caregivers.

 

After a while longer trying to just distract himself enough, he gave up. He had to tell someone, and quickly.

He tried Minhyun first. Usually he’d go for Jisung, but he’d already bothered the boy in the morning. So he went for Minhyun, only to be told to wait a second, because Minhyun was busy. Except a second turned into a minute, then five, and then ten minutes, until Daniel noticed he’d been forgotten. Part of him wanted to pout, but he still hadn’t fallen on little space, so he swallowed the urge and went looking for someone else.

Daehwi and Jinyoung were looking at a little screen, probably monitoring their presentations. Usually, Daniel wouldn’t bother, knowing they couldn’t get distracted. Besides, it was Jinyoung. Daehwi was there too, sure, and Jinyoung had already redeemed himself; but there was still some leftover awkwardness there. But he could also feel himself slipping by the second, so he breathed in deeply and went to them.

“We can’t do anything right now, Niel hyung. Hold on a little longer, ok?”

Was the answer he got. He felt his eyes welling up. Why didn’t they want to play with him? Was he that annoying?

He barely noticed he’d fallen into little space. Instead, he headed towards Seongwoo and as soon as he spotted the older he ran to him, throwing himself on the boy’s arms. He expected Seongwoo to hug him and pick him up. Instead, the boy simply groaned.

“Hey, what the hell, Daniel? You’re heavy, don’t do this!”

Taken aback, Daniel let the boy go. Seongwoo was focused on his phone, not paying attention to the younger. Once again, tears welled up in Daniel’s eyes. But he didn’t let himself be taken down so easily. Instead, he went looking for Jisung. Surely, his daddy would want him. He spotted the leader and skipped to him, pulling on his sleeves several times, before his hand was swatted away.

“Niel, I told you we don’t have time for this. C’mon, stop trying to be little.”

And that was the last straw. The tears that had been gathering for so long finally fell, and Daniel silently stepped away, before running from the room.

 

Running away had seemed like the best option just three minutes ago. Now Daniel didn’t know where he was. He’d ran away from his Daddy and papa, and from Woo and Hwihwi, and… and he was completely lost. There were a lot of people he didn’t know walking around and talking loudly, and they looked at him weird, and Daniel didn’t like it.

He wanted to suck on his thumb to calm himself down, but his papa had said that he couldn’t do that around other people whom he didn’t know. So he didn’t. Instead, he looked around, trying to remember where he’d come from. He remembered turning left… somewhere. He started walking, trying to remake his way.

After a while walking, he peeked inside a room as he thought he’d found his papa and daddy, but he didn’t recognize anyone in that room. He closed the door and continued to walk, checking rooms from time to time, but he never found his daddy or his papa or Woo, and he was getting more and more scared. Where were they? Had they left without him? Didn’t they love him anymore? Was that why they didn’t want to play?

He opened one more door and seven heads turned towards him, curiously. He didn’t recognize anyone there. Daniel felt his eyes watering again, and this time he didn’t hold back. Instead, he sat down on the floor, a sob already bubbling in his chest. Before he could start crying, though, someone picked him up. It wasn’t his daddy’s embrace, or his papa’s, or Woo’s. But it was warm and careful, and Daniel buried his face on the person’s chest, crying his heart out.

The person was careful and soft. Daniel felt himself being rocked, and it felt comfortable. There was also a low, sweet voice talking to him and a hand on his hair, and soon he started feeling less scared. This person seemed nice. Maybe they could help him find his daddy?

“Hey, are you feeling better?” Daniel noticed he’d stopped crying. He looked up, at the person holding him. It was a man who looked about the same age as his daddy. He looked a bit like a bear, and his hug felt a bit like a bear, too. He was warm and he was smiling. Daniel felt a smile tugging on his lips and giggled. The man’s smile widened. “I’ll put you down on the couch, ok?”

Daniel’s smile disappeared. Woo hyung had said he was heavy. Was he really that heavy? But he was little…

As soon as he was put down he missed the man’s warmth and whined. Trying to get at least a bit of the comfort back, he took his thumb to his mouth. He looked around. There were other people in the room, and everyone was looking at him. Feeling shy, Daniel hid his face on the couch. The men in the room chuckled. And then there was someone holding his hand. He turned to look.

It was a man with big ears, like a monkey. He had a nice smile and a sweet face.

“Hey there, Daniel.” Daniel frowned. No one called him Daniel. “I’m Hoseok, from Monsta X. Nice to meet you.”

Daniel tilted his head.

“Mo-mon… mon’ta s?”

He asked, unsure of what that meant. The man chuckled.

“Monsta X. It’s a group. I sing with my friends.”

Said the man. Daniel’s eyes widened and he nodded eagerly.

“Niel sing too! In gwoup!”

There was a loud screeched and Daniel jumped up, startled. The man in front of him – Hoseok hyung – looked back, to a man who looked like a puppy.

“Min, you’re scaring him!”

Said Hoseok. Daniel tilted his head. Puppy man smiled.

“Sorry, but he’s too cute. Look! He’s even sucking on his thumb! Just like Ki!”

Daniel went cross-eyed trying to look at his thumb, then took it out immediately, remembering his daddy’s words.

“Niel no tute!”

He complained, knowing he’d get more compliments like that. The puppy man giggled and Hoseok turned to Daniel, smiling.

“You, mister, are adorable.”

And saying that he pinched Daniel’s cheeks. Daniel laughed. He liked being told he was cute. His daddy always called him cute. And then he remembered his daddy.

“Seokie ‘yung…”

He began, trying to ask for help. But he was interrupted a second later.

“Appa~”

Came a whine, and Daniel tilted his head. One of the boys who had been standing in the room – the one with the really cool red hair – had plopped himself on Hoseok’s lap. Hoseok turned his attention to the boy.

“Hey, baby! Didn’t see you there.”

The boy giggled and covered his eyes, before uncovering them and scaring Hoseok. Daniel giggled, finding the trick great. The boy looked at him, head tilted. Daniel suddenly felt a wave of shyness and hid himself.

“Appa, baby?”

He heard the red-haired ask. Hoseok was the one who answered.

“Yes, sweetie. He’s your age, probably. Niel, can you look at Seok hyung?” Hesitantly, Daniel did as he was told. The man was smiling. “Niel, this is Kihyunnie. Kihyunnie, Niel. Why don’t you two play for a bit? We brought some of Kihyunnie’s toys with us.”

Daniel knew he should probably find his daddy. But what harm could playing a little do?

 

Jisung was panicking. He’d finished his report, which he’d been focused on for the past half hour, and decided to go check on the members. Daniel had gone to him earlier, and he’d been a bit harsh when dismissing him, so he thought he owned the boy a bit of cuddling. Just for a few minutes.

So he checked around. He found Daehwi and Jinyoung asleep, phone forgotten on the floor by their side. Jihoon and Woojin were talking quietly in a corner, Woojin sitting on Jihoon’s lap. Minhyun was filling a report, just like Jisung had been doing. Seongwoo was on his phone. Sungwoon was writing. Jaehwan was napping. Guanlin still hadn’t comeback from Seonho’s dressing room. And Daniel… wait.

Jisung’s eyes widened. Trying to keep calm, he headed to where Minhyun was.

“Min, hey, have you seen Niel?”

Minhyun looked up.

“Niel? He came here a while ago, why?”

Jisung frowned.

“What did he come here for?”

Minhyun frowned.

“Something about needing help. I told him to wait and he disappeared.”

The hand squeezing Jisung’s heart tightened.

“Fuck… guys, has anyone seen Niel?”

This got everyone’s attention; those who were sleeping woke up, and the others stopped what they were doing.

“Niel hyung? He came to us saying he was feeling little. I… I told him to wait a little.”

Jisung cringed at Daehwi’s answer.

“Anyone else?”

Seongwoo looked down, guiltily.

“I… I may have snapped at him. When he hugged me.”

Yup, they were fucked.

“Fuck. We have to find him. If someone…”

There was a knock on the door. Jisung rushed to it, the others following close behind, all anxious once they noticed their precious little was missing.

It was Hyunwoo at the door. From Monsta X. He raised an eyebrow at the people crowding behind Jisung.

“Hello, sunbaenim.”

Greeted Jisung, trying to stay calm. Hyunwoo smiled.

“I see you’ve noticed something missing.”

 

Jisung was absolutely sure there was a higher power helping them. What were the chances of the people who found Daniel lost and crying being people who knew about ageplay? Very low. And yet, it had happened.

Hyunwoo had asked them to call him less formally, and after that he’d led the boys through the corridors to Monsta X’s room. As they walked, he told them about the state Daniel was in when he showed up: eyes wide and scared and on the verge of crying. He told them about how Daniel had cried his eyes out until Hyunwoo managed to calm him down, and how the boy seemed to immediately bond with Hoseok. And then…

“And… well, it might take a while for you guys to convince him to leave.”

And then he’d opened the door to the dressing room, and the three boys who had gone to retrieve their main dancer and center were greeted with one of the cutest scenes they’d ever witnessed.

Daniel was sitting on the floor, a plush bear clutched in his hands. He was wearing bunny headbands and a big hoodie that definitely did not belong to him. In front of him sat their Kihyun sunbae, extremely focused on peeling a grape, before feeding it to Daniel.

“Yummy?”

He asked. Daniel clapped.

“Yummy!”

Kihyun giggled and proceeded to start peeling another grape.

“I… what… Kihyun-ssi…?”

Hyunwoo laughed.

“He’s a little, yes. Him and Daniel seem to… have created quite a bond.”

Jisung watched, fascinated. He was used to seeing Monsta X on stage. All boys were charismatic and great performers, and they all seemed so… well, though. It was probably due to their concept, usually on the darker side, and he knew that, but to see Kihyun sitting on the floor with Daniel was a whole new experience.

“Hello, there. I’m Hoseok.”

Jisung shook his head, coming back to reality. Hoseok was smiling at him, offering a hand, which Jisung hurried to shake.

“Hello, sunbae. Nice to meet you, I’m Jisung. These are Seongwoo and Daehwi.”

Hoseok bowed to the other two, who quickly bowed back, making the older boy laugh.

“You guys don’t need to be so tense. C’mon, have a seat.”

And that’s how Jisung, Daehwi and Seongwoo found themselves in Monsta X’s dressing room, watching Daniel play.

 

It didn’t take long for Daniel to notice them, though. At first he was absorbed in the task of eating, but as soon as he was done he looked around, probably trying to find something to do. And that’s when he spotted Jisung. Immediately, his eyes widened.

“D-daddy…”

His eyes filled with tears, and Jisung felt his heart breaking. Immediately, he got up, seeing the way the boy made grabby hands at him. With only three steps he was by the boy’s side, picking him up and hugging him.

“Hey, baby boy.”

He said. Daniel was crying and hugging him tightly, and Jisung had never felt so guilty.

“N-niel thinted daddy leaved ‘im.”

He said, between sobs, and Jisung could only hug him tighter.

“Oh, baby. Daddy would never do that. Never, ok? You’re our precious baby boy, Niel. We love you.”

Daniel sniffed and nuzzled Jisung’s neck, getting it wet with his tears. But Jisung didn’t mind. He had his baby back.

“Niel wove daddy and papa and, and evewyone too.”

Said the boy, calming down a bit as Jisung rocked him and caressed his hair. Jisung hugged him tighter.

“We love you, baby. We love you a lot.”

He was still rocking the little when someone pulled on his hand. He looked to his side, to find Kihyun offering him a pacifier.

“Daddy and appa tell Kiyunnie that sucking on thumb bad. Niel huwt his thumb.”

He seemed extremely worried, and thrust the pacifier towards Jisung. The boy looked at it, a little smile threatening to break on his face. He turned to Hyunwoo, who shrugged, then smiled at Kihyun.

“Well, can you give it to Niel, then?”

He asked. Kihyun beamed at him and walked around Jisung, so he could face Daniel.

“Niel. Kiyunnie bwinged this for Niel.”

Daniel tilted his head, then opened his mouth, taking his thumb out. Kihyun got on his tippy toes and put the pacifier on the boy’s mouth. Daniel sighed contentedly and started sucking on it.

“Fank you.”

He said, tiredly. Jisung, noticing this, gestured towards the couch. Hyunwoo caught the gesture and nodded, and the leader of Wanna One sat back down.

“Niel, look who’s here too.”

Daniel looked over and his eyes shone. He let go of Jisung and made grabby hands to Daehwi. The boy smiled and picked him up.

“Hey, Niel.”

The boy nuzzled against Daehwi like a kitten.

“Hwihwi.”

He mumbled. Daehwi pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

“Hey, baby.”

Daniel hugged him tighter, then let go and looked at Seongwoo. He pouted. Seongwoo pouted back.

“Sorry, baby boy. Woo was really busy and didn’t notice you wanted to play. Can you forgive Woo?” Daniel crossed his arms. Seongwoo put his hands together in front of his face. “Pretty pretty pretty please?”

He asked, dragging out the ‘e’ in ‘please’. Daniel giggled.

“Niel fow’ive.”

Seongwoo beamed and opened his arms, and Daehwi knew he’d get a bruise where Daniel kicked him trying to go to Seongwoo, but he didn’t mind that much.

Jisung glanced at the boys from Monsta X. They were busy entertaining Kihyun, clearly giving them privacy to talk to Daniel. He felt glad.

Daniel looked at him and followed his gaze and his eyes lit up.

“Daddy! Kiyunnie weawy nice!”

This got Kihyun’s attention. The boy smiled, and Jisung wanted to squish him. He looked like a baby hamster.

“Yeah? Did you have fun together?”

Daniel nodded eagerly, and so did Kihyun, making Hoseok, who had been playing with him, laugh.

“We pwayed powews!”

Jisung raised an eyebrow.

“Powers? How do you play that?”

Instead of Daniel, though, Kihyun answered.

“Niel and Kiyunnie have powers! Kiyunnie have fire power and Niel have ice power!”

Daniel nodded enthusiastically.

“And, and we save the wowd!”

Both boys giggled and Jisung couldn’t help but to laugh.

“That sounds really nice.” He said, making both boys beam. Then he looked at his phone and sighed. “But we really have to go now.”

Daniel and Kihyun looked absolutely heartbroken.

“Go?”

Asked Daniel, a pout on his lips. Kihyun quickly ran to his new friend and Daniel wiggled out of Seongwoo’s embrace, letting Kihyun pull him into a tight hug. Jisung wanted to smile at the cuteness, but didn’t.

“Yes, we have to go. See, Kihyunnie, our other members are waiting for us.”

Said Jisung, kneeling in front of the boys, who were sitting on the floor. Kihyun jutted his lower lip out more.

“But… but Niel and Kiyunnie play…”

Hoseok approached them, sitting next to the pair of littles.

“Kihyunnie, Niel has to go now. But how about this: we can meet another day. Then the two of you can play all day. What do you say?”

He addressed Kihyun, but Jisung could tell the question was actually for him. He smiled.

“Yes, we can schedule a play date for you. And maybe Jihoonie can come too.”

Hoseok didn’t bat an eye ate that.

“Yeah, Kihyunnie. And Minmin can play with you too. Do you want that?”

Kihyun seemed to be thinking about it. Then he sighed and let go of Daniel.

“Appa, pinky pwomise?”

Hoseok smiled and hooked his pinky with Kihyun’s. Daniel turned to Jisung.

“Pinty pwomise.”

He said. Jisung laughed and promised as well. Then Daniel turned to Kihyun and pouted. Kihyun hugged him and pressed a messy kiss to Daniel’s cheek, making the boy laugh.

“Niel and Kiyunnie play again, Niel. Kiyunnie pwomise.”

Daniel nodded and stood up. Jisung stood up too and held the boy’s hand. He made to take the pacifier from Daniel, but Hoseok stopped him.

“You can keep it. If you put his mask over it no one will notice.”

Jisung tilted his head and did as instructed, staring fascinated at the result.

“That’s actually amazing. Thank you so much, for everything.” The boys smiled at him and Jisung knew he’d found amazing friends. He turned to Daniel. “Say bye, Niel.”

Daniel looked at the seven others standing there and waved shyly, soon hiding his face on Jisung’s chest. The boy’s from Monsta X laughed and Kihyun giggled.

“Appa, Niel cute.”

Hoseok smiled and Jisung chuckled.

“Yes, baby, he’s really cute.”

Jisung made his way out, thanking and saying goodbye to everyone.

 

Everyone wanted to pick Daniel up and cuddle him as they arrived back at their own room. Minhyun was the first one to manage to, though, picking the boy up and hugging Daniel as if his life depended on it.

“Baby, papa is so sorry. I should have paid more attention to you. I should have stopped what I was doing to see what you needed. I’m so sorry, Niel.”

Daniel was pouting, sad to see his papa so worried.

“Papa no sad! Niel otay! Papa busy.”

Minhyun shook his head.

“No, baby. Papa will never be busy for you. Never. Ok?”

Daniel nodded, wanting to make his papa smile again.

“Otay, papa. Smile?”

Minhyun chuckled, a mixture of relief and fondness. He smiled at the boy as well as he could, and Daniel kissed one of his cheeks. Minhyun kissed the top of he head and finally let the boy go.

The other immediately swarmed him, caressing his hair and hugging him and kissing the boy, until Jisung noticed Daniel was beginning to get tired and made everyone move, picking the boy up. Daniel buried his face on Jisung’s shoulder.

“Ok, guys, we have to go now. Tomorrow morning we are free, you can all play with him then, ok?”

There were a few groans, but eventually everyone agreed and they headed out to go home.

 

Jisung had spent the whole ride with Daniel on his lap. The little seemed to have fallen asleep, so Jisung carried him up the stairs to the dorm and wished everyone goodnight, before heading to his room and putting Daniel down on his bed. Except Daniel refused to let go of Jisung.

“Daddy.”

Whined the boy, not opening his eyes.

“Baby, you need to let go now.”

Said Jisung. Daniel shook his head.

“No. Daddy no go ‘way.”

Jisung sighed.

“Daddy will be right here, Niel. I just need to change and get your pyjamas. Ok?”

Daniel hesitated, but let go. Jisung kissed his forehead, thanking him, then made his way around the room, changing.

He changed Daniel too, putting him on the bunny onesie they’d bought recently. Then, as he tried to leave to his own bed, Daniel held his hand.

“Daddy s-stay. Pwease.”

Daniel seemed on the verge of crying, and Jisung didn’t have the heart to deny it. Plus, he liked sleeping with Daniel. He pulled the covers up and slid under it, pulling Daniel closer. The little sighed.

“There, baby. Daddy’s here.”

Daniel nodded, sucking on his pacifier. He scrunched up his nose. Then he nuzzled Jisung’s chest, whining. Jisung had seen that behaviour before. Pushing Daniel away a little, Jisung took off his shirt. Daniel looked at him, then his eyes widened. He quickly dropped his pacifier and moved so he was half on top of Jisung. It had always amazed the leader the fact that Daniel genuinely seemed to think that he was small when he was in little space.

“Daddy, Niel tan?”

Jisung caressed the boy’s hair.

“Of course, baby.”

With a content and needy noise, Daniel latched onto Jisung’s nipple and began sucking, and Jisung caressed his hair, humming softly as the younger practically nursed on his chest. And like that they fell asleep, and Jisung’s last thought was that he ha no idea how he’d gotten so, so lucky.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then, 84 years later, I come back

Seongwoo smiled to himself as he woke up to the sound of Daniel’s excited ‘daddy, wake up!’ and Jisung’s grunts. He glanced at the pair. Jisung was lying down, eyes covered by his arm, and Daniel was sitting on him, most likely crushing the older.

“Daddy, Niel hungwy!”

Jisung mumbled something unintelligible and Seongwoo laughed, getting up. He wanted to spend more time with Daniel, he wasn’t about to pass this opportunity.

“Niel, let your daddy sleep, he’s really, really tired. C’mon, Woo hyung will make pancakes for you.”

Daniel’s eyes immediately widened and he turned to Seongwoo.

“Pantates?”

Seongwoo laughed at the reaction and nodded.

“Yes, pancakes. Then we can go for a walk in the park.”

Daniel’s eyes shone and he jumped out of bed, stepping on what was probably some vital organ on Jisung’s body. The leader groaned in pain, but sighed thankfully. Seongwoo laughed.

“Woo ‘yung! Pantates!”  
Whined Daniel, pulling on the older’s hand. Seongwoo laughed and let himself be pulled out of the room.

 

It was easy enough to keep Daniel entertained as he made pancakes. He gave the little a toy car that had been lying around – their living room usually had at least one stray toy thrown around, nowadays –, and Daniel was gone, absorbed in his play.

Once the food was ready, the boy gladly traded his car for syrupy pancakes, and the two of them ate happily. During breakfast, Daniel babbled nonstop about Kihyun, and Seongwoo found it endearing. It was hard to understand the little, considering his lisp, his speech problems and the fact that he was so excited the words came out jumbled. But Seongwoo had practice, now, and he managed to understand most of what Daniel said.

“A-and Tiyunnie gived Niel gwapes! And let Niel cuddwe wif ‘is bear!”

Seongwoo chuckled.

“Niel, slow down, baby. Chew your food and swallow before speaking, ok?” Daniel quickly nodded, stopping his babbling. “So you had a lot of fun yesterday, right?”

Daniel nodded his head enthusiastically, then swallowed his food.

“When Niel see Tiyunnie again?”

Seongwoo hummed.

“Your daddy will call them today to find a day you two can play.”

He said. Daniel smiled widely, stuffing his face with more pancakes and humming happily. He was in a very good mood, Seongwoo had never seem him so happy and excited.

They finished eating and Seongwoo cleaned Daniel’s face, glad that he’d thought to use the boy’s bib. He then helped the boy brush his teeth and get dressed.

“So, should we go to the park now?”

Daniel beamed at him.

 

Seongwoo made sure that Daniel was wearing clothes that were at the same time comfortable and ‘adult’ enough for people not to stare. He’d chosen some oversized jumper that belonged to him, as well as sweatpants. Daniel seemed to not care much, although Seongwoo wished he could dress the boy in his cute overalls with the lion shirt Daniel loved so much underneath.

They walked hand in hand, knowing that the chance of someone seeing them where they were was very low, and that they could simply pass it off as close friendship if asked. Daniel seemed incredibly happy. He looked around, smiling, and for once he wasn’t pulling Seongwoo around and wanting to play and run. He seemed content enough to just smile and occasionally squeal when he saw something he really liked.

And so they walked, and Seongwoo had never felt so at peace.

They sat by the river, after a while, and Daniel sighed.

“Hyung…”

Seongwoo raised an eyebrow.

“I thought you’d be in headspace for a while longer.”

He said, helping Daniel ease into his adult headspace. There was a dust of pink on the younger’s cheeks. Seongwoo wished he wouldn’t get so embarrassed every time he came out of headspace.

“I guess Kihyun hyung helped me de-stress a bit.”

Seongwoo smiled.

“You did seem pretty fond of him.”

Daniel blushed.

“Shut up.”

He said. Seongwoo chuckled.

“I’m serious! I’m scared I might lose my spot as your crush.”

Seongwoo hadn’t expected his words to have such an effect. Daniel went completely red, choking on air.

“I, you, what?”

He said, after he finished coughing. Seongwoo raised an eyebrow.

“Were you trying to keep it a secret? Cause you’re not very good at it.”

He said. He wanted to test a theory, something that had been on the back of his mind for a while.

“H-how… what…?”

Seongwoo forced himself not to smile.

“You gave me a flower crown and said I was the prince and you the princess, Niel.”

Daniel stopped sputtering.

“That… I was little when I did that!”

Seongwoo raised an eyebrow.

“Uhn, yeah. And when you’re little you have a crush on me.”

Daniel stared at him, eyes wide. Then he slowly blinked, and Seongwoo could see the relief in his eyes. So he was right. Daniel’s crush on him wasn’t just an invention of his little self.

“I… yeah. Ok.”

Seongwoo wanted to laugh. Maybe he should jut tell Daniel that he liked him too, but what was the fun in that?

“Anyways, let’s go. We have a schedule in the afternoon, and Jisung hyung will kill us if we’re late.”

Daniel nodded, still a bit pink, and got up. Seongwoo smirked and held the boy’s hand. Daniel looked down, then back up. His cheeks were pinker now.

“H-hyung, I’m… I’m not little right now.”

Seongwoo smiled.

“I know.”

He said, and started walking back. Daniel, flustered and red, followed him. This would be fun.

 

“I can’t believe you monopolized him all morning.”

Woojin was pouting at Seongwoo, and the older could see Jihoon sitting on the sofa, trying hard not to show how much he wanted to squish Woojin’s cheeks. On the boy’s defence, Woojin did look adorable.

“I’m not a toy…”

Came Daniel’s voice, although there was no bite to it. Woojin pouted more.

“But I wanted to play with you!”

Daniel chuckled and ruffled the boy’s hair, although he was blushing a little. Like he always did when his little self was mentioned.

“Next time, Woojinie.”

Woojin sighed, but nodded. He then stuck his tongue out at Seongwoo and walked back to his boyfriend, nudging him to get cuddles. Jihoon was quick to open his arms, letting the younger rest his head on his chest as he ran a hand through Woojin’s hair. They were a cute couple.

Seongwoo let the two of them be and looked around. Daniel was brushing his teeth, leaning on the sink. Seongwoo smirked. Silently, he walked over, then put his arms around the younger, hugging him from behind. Daniel startled and blushed when he noticed who it was.

“Hey there.”

Daniel blinked at him.

“W-what are you doing?”

He asked, voice muffled because of the toothbrush. Seongwoo pouted.

“Can’t I hug my best friend?” He asked, innocently. Daniel made a noise on the back of his throat, then nodded. Seongwoo smiled and rested his head on the younger’s shoulder. “You smell good.”

He said, making Daniel even more flustered.

“I-I…”

Then, as a last touch, Seongwoo kissed Daniel’s neck, making the younger squeak. He bit back a smile at the reaction, wondering why hadn’t he done this sooner.

“We have to leave soon. Hurry up, ok?”

He said, and then left, leaving Daniel behind, blushing and wondering what the hell had just happened.

 

“Hey.”

Jihoon looked up and smiled as he saw who it was. He opened his legs, making space for Woojin to sit down between them. The younger smiled gladly and let himself fall between his boyfriends legs, back resting against Jihoon’s chest. They were sweaty from practice, and a bit disgusting, but it didn’t matter to either of them. Feeling each other’s warmth was all they wanted.

“Tired?” Asked Jihoon. Woojin hummed, and the older noticed his boyfriend’s eyes were closed. He chuckled. “You can’t sleep now, Woojinie. We still have to practice.”

Woojin hummed again.

“You’re comfy.”

Jihoon smiled and couldn’t fight the urge to press a kiss against Woojin’s head. The younger scrunched up his nose.

“No~ I’m disgusting.”

Jihoon huffed and wrapped his arms around the younger, pulling him closer.

“You’re perfect.”

He said, brain a bit fogged by the tiredness and slight pain on his limbs. He could see Woojin blushing, though, and the sight made him smile. Woojin was too cute for his own good.

“Love you.”

Mumbled the younger. Jihoon sighed contentedly, resting his head on top of his boyfriend’s.

“I love you too.”

They were silent for a second, then something caught Jihoon’s eyes. He laughed quietly.

“Do you think Seongwoo hyung’s plan will work?”

He asked. Woojin opened his eyes a bit and snorted.

Seongwoo had managed to pull Daniel to sit on his lap, and was now hugging the boy and pressing little kisses on his cheeks every now and then. Daniel was completely red, clearly embarrassed, but also enjoying the attention.

“I mean, I don’t think it’s a plan, as much as it’s just teasing. Niel hyung is already head over heels for him.”

Jihoon nodded.

“True. He shouldn’t push too much, though.”

Woojin snorted and gestured to the other side of the room. Jihoon followed his eyes and spotted Jisung. The leader was glaring at Seongwoo.

“Jisung hyung won’t let it get too far. You know how protective he is of Niel hyung.”

Jihoon nodded. It was true. Jisung was always mothering and taking care of all of them, just like Minhyun, but it had always been clear as day that he had a soft spot for Daniel. It was probably born from the fact that’d he’d known Daniel for longer, had seen Daniel grow up. The fact was that he was more protective of Daniel than of anyone else, and that was a lot. He wouldn’t let Seongwoo hurt Daniel.

“You’re right. Seongwoo hyung wouldn’t hurt Niel hyung, anyways. At least not on purpose.”

Woojin hummed, and Jihoon noticed he had his eyes closed once again. He smiled to himself and started humming. Soon their break would be over. But for now he could enjoy his time with his boyfriend.

 

Daniel sat on his bed, hugging his pillow and thinking about the last few days. Ever since their walk on the park, Seongwoo had been acting… weird. He was being clingier to Daniel, and acting almost… almost flirty. And Daniel’s poor little heart was having a hard time processing all that sudden attention. Not that Seongwoo wasn’t clingy before. He had always been extra close to Daniel, hugging him and holding his hand randomly. But lately he seemed to be doing it to get a reaction out of Daniel, and as much as the younger tried he couldn’t stop himself from blushing and smiling.

He was thinking about how just a few hours earlier the older had pressed a kiss to Daniel’s cheek when said boy entered the room. Daniel’s eyes widened and he looked down, blushing and supressing his thought about Seongwoo. He heard a chuckle, and then there was someone next to him on the bed.

“You’re red.”

Said Seongwoo. Daniel whined and covered his cheeks.

“Am not.”

Seongwoo chuckled.

“Yes, you are. It’s cute.”

Daniel groaned and looked at the older.

“Can you stop that, hyung?”

Seongwoo raised an eyebrow.

“Stop what?”

He asked, innocently. Daniel glared.

“Teasing me. Kissing me and saying I’m cute.”

Seongwoo tilted his head.

“But why? I like calling you cute. You are cute.”

Daniel pouted.

“Hyung.”

He whined, and Seongwoo chuckled.

“Do you want to know why I call you cute all the time, Niel?”

Daniel looked up, suspicious.

“Why?”

He asked. Seongwoo smiled.

“Because I like you.”

Daniel froze. It was so simple. A few simple words. And yet, they had his head spinning.

“What?”

He asked, not knowing what else to say. Seongwoo chuckled.

“I like you. I’ve liked you for a while, but I didn’t think you would like me back. Until the other day at the park. You got so flustered, Niel. It was adorable.”

Daniel was gaping at him. Then he closed his mouth and punched Seongwoo’s chest lightly.

“Oh my god, I hate you so much.” He said, embarrassed. Seongwoo laughed. “I can’t believe you knew and didn’t tell me!”

He complained. Seongwoo placed a hand on his cheek and smiled at him.

“I’m sorry, but you look adorable when you’re flustered. Besides, I’m telling you now. Isn’t that enough?”

Daniel rolled his eyes, then leaned forward and kissed Seongwoo, smiling against the older’s lips as Seongwoo let out a startled noise before kissing back. Daniel also knew how to play this game.

When they parted, Daniel moved closer and hugged Seongwoo, snuggling against the older’s chest. Seongwoo laughed.

“I swear, you’re like a kitten, Niel.”

Daniel smiled.

“Your kitten.”

He said. Seongwoo burst out laughing, Daniel soon following.

“I can’t believe I like your lame ass.”

Said the older, and leaned down to kiss Daniel again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you guys think?


End file.
